ToolKing.com grows with Google Shopping
By Retail Technology | Wednesday March 13 2013
US-based Internet Retailer 500 company boosts site traffic, conversion rate, average sales with product listing ads on Google Shopping
Headquartered near Denver, ToolKing.com offers tools, hardware, home-improvement items, outdoor goods, and more across multiple e-commerce channels. It sells more than 120,000 products online.
To capitalise on every advertising opportunity, ToolKing.com began using Google product listing ads (PLAs) on Google Shopping.
Optimising Google Ads investment
ToolKing.com had little previous experience with PLAs. Aided by partner ChannelAdvisor, the company embraced the ad format in 2012 as an e-commerce tool. “We have been using Google since the Froogle days,” said Ben Skigen, ToolKing.com e-commerce director.
“Although we were aware of PLAs, we did not make them a priority until ChannelAdvisor made it clear that they’d be the only way to go on Google Shopping. We quickly realised that the transition to Google Shopping was a great opportunity for us,” he added.
ToolKing.com’s data feed to Google Shopping includes all of its products. After testing, the company lowered many PLA bids, so that non-performing items appear low in search-query results or don’t appear at all. Using ChannelAdvisor technology, ToolKing.com assigns products to various PLA target groups, based on pricing, availability, and other factors. It optimizes bids for each target group to drive additional traffic.
“ChannelAdvisor made it easy for us to get 100% of our catalogue listed in Google Shopping,” Skigen said. “Given the results we’ve seen so far, we’re not shy about investing more into PLAs. Looking ahead, we will continue developing our bidding algorithms to maximise our ROI [return on investment].”
Driving higher traffic and conversions
“We are seeing amazing results with Google Shopping, and PLAs are already becoming our highest-priority marketing channel,” he continued. “As we’ve figured out and refined our bidding strategy, we’ve observed an increase in revenue and a decrease in cost per conversion. We like that.”
ToolKing.com’s traffic and conversion rates both have risen more than 50%. The company also has reinvigorated sales of thousands of items it once considered “dead items.” And the average order value is up nearly 15 percent, thanks to the increase in qualified traffic from Google Shopping.
“Over the past few years, we’ve watched marketplaces become a more and more significant portion of our overall business,” Skigen concluded. “Thanks to Google Shopping and PLAs, our website is again our strongest sales channel.”
