Shopping Experience Scorecard: Google’s New eCommerce Tool
Last February, Google launched its new Shopping Experience Scorecard program. This initiative is part of the Google Merchant Center.
The Shopping Experience Scorecard aims to rate a brand’s customer service quality. In return, brands can receive a boost in ad placements and search ranks from Google itself.
The metrics rated by the Shopping Experience Scorecard are:
Delivery time. The days it takes for customers to get their orders.Shipping cost. Data on the cost incurred by users to receive their orders.Return window. The available days customers have to return a product.Return cost. The cost for a customer to return an item, and then restock it.
Stellar merchants can earn a rating of “Excellent”, “Comparable”, or “Opportunity” for each metric.
As your results improve, Google with reward you with the following perks:
A Trusted Store Badge, which will appear below your listings on the Google Shopping app.Improved ad placement and prominence of the Google Shopping tab.
Sellers using the Merchant Center are automatically enrolled on the program.
Google monitors your performance and rewards you once you meet a specific rating.
And the best part is that there are no penalizations! Google won’t take action if you don’t meet a “shopping experience threshold”. The only downside is that you won’t enjoy the program’s benefits.
Google Trusted Store Badge
Google released the new Trusted Store Badge in March 2022.
This pin works just like its Amazon counterparts: It highlights the most trusted Google merchants.
The badge is displayed beside a free product listing on the Google shopping tab.
Here’s an example:
Source: Search Engine Roundtable
According to Google, sellers who boast the Trusted Store Badge enjoy more clicks from customers. Plus, the badge also attracts attention to little-known merchants online.
This makes the Shopping Experience Scorecard program a unique opportunity to boost visibility. And all you have to do is deliver a great customer experience.
How to Use the Shopping Experience Scorecard
Here’s how you can review your performance:
Log in to Google Merchant Center.Click the Growth button from the navigation menu.Select Shopping experience scorecard.
As we said, all Google merchants have free access to the Shopping Experience Scorecard program.
From here on, you can submit data regarding your delivery, shipping and return policies.
To earn a badge, Brands must submit data on all relevant areas of the shopping performance scorecard.
Note that the program does not display metrics for individual customers.
Rather, it showcases impression weighted averages.
Plus, Google has a set lookback period to rate your performance metrics. That means it may take a few days or weeks to see improvements in your evaluation.
Shopping Experience Scorecard vs Retailer Standards
At first glance, the Shopping Experience Scorecard is akin to Google’s Retailer Standards. But there are a few key differences between each program:
Retailer Standards is exclusive to Buy on Google merchants. Shopping Experience Scorecard includes all sellers.Shopping Experience Scorecard aims to reward brands who deliver great customer experience. Retailer Standards ensures sellers meet Google’s service standards.Retailer Standards do come with penalties for sellers, such as account suspension. The Shopping Experience Scorecard program is penalty-free.
Tap into the Insights Page
Google recently launched new insight reports for online sellers. Insights can help Google merchants detect key market trends, and predict customer behavior.
You can find the reports on Google’s insight page within your Google Ads account. Here is some of the new data available to sellers on the insights page:
Free Listings Conversion Report. Displays the total impressions, traffic and conversions of free listings.
Price Insights. Rates if products have competitive pricing, and the impact of any price changes to revenue. Predictions include user clicks, conversions, and gross profit.
Local Products Insights. Showcases the most-viewed items for a local store. This insight is exclusive to US and Canada sellers.
Images Source: The Keyword
The insights page is set to monitor your selling performance. It also offers recommendations to boost your success online.
You can’t improve customer experience without access to key metrics. Such statistics can help sellers predict customer behavior online.
Thus, you’ll know how to keep users interested in your store.
Some other insights you can review are:
Diagnostics. Review why a campaign may not be generating conversions.Search trends. Evaluates user’s interest on an offer, based on search interests.Demand forecasts. Predicts future interest for items related to your customer base.Consumer interests. Tracks how your potential leads search and engage with your brand on Google.Audience. Overview of the traits that make your target audience engage and convert.Change history. Showcases any recent change to your account that may have impacted your selling performance.Auction. Tracks if recent auction competitions affected your sales or campaigns. Performance. Highlights important changes for entities inside your campaigns. For example: ad groups, keywords, videos, or item groups.
Final Thoughts
According to Google, 67% of holiday shoppers used Google to help them find new brands and products. So, it’s clear that standing out to users is more critical than ever.
You already know how to provide a unique customer experience. So why not take it up a notch?
Google’s Shopping Experience Scorecard can help you highlight your skills. It’s a free tool, designed to drive visibility and user conversions.
Remember, the goal is to make yourself visible online. And since the program has no penalties, you can’t lose anything by trying it out.
Author
Esteban Muñoz is an SEO copywriter at AMZ Advisers, with several years’ experience in digital marketing and e-commerce. Esteban and the AMZ Advisers team have been able to achieve incredible growth on the Amazon platform for their clients by optimizing and managing their accounts and creating in-depth content marketing strategies.
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