It’s been no secret that COVID-19 has fast-forwarded online shopping this year—nearly doubling the previous 10 years of US ecommerce penetration in just 3 months.
And even consumers who buy offline at physical stores overwhelmingly (88%) begin their research online before they leave their house. This raises the priority of features such as online local product availability which may have been “nice to have” before the pandemic to “must absolutely have” status moving forward.
Now, 8 out of 10 (80%) of consumers are less interested to visit a store when the website doesn’t offer product availability information—that’s an increase of 56% versus the previous year. And 81% of consumers report checking on inventory via a retailer’s website before visiting a store. Online local inventory availability is a competitive advantage for retailers who have it and a disadvantage for those that don’t.
Microsoft Local Inventory Ads
Local Inventory Ads is an ad type for Microsoft Shopping Campaigns that enables retail marketers to display ads with an In store notification when a consumer searches for a product that is available at one of their nearby locations. If the consumer clicks the ad, they can be taken to the retailer’s website or online storefront.
According to Microsoft, Local Inventory Ads have the potential to drive both online and offline sales:
“Online retailers who also have a brick-and-mortar presence will be able to take advantage of Local Inventory Ads to bridge the gap between their online and physical presences and create an omnichannel presence which will not only help drive more volume to their e-commerce sites but also help generate a positive impact on their physical locations…Local Inventory Ads help you surface the right information about your product at the right time to the right user, leading to a more informed click and more foot traffic to your physical location.”
Skai™ makes using this Microsoft’s omnichannel ad format even easier
Skai™ Search’s integration with Microsoft Advertising includes a time-saving workflow that enables marketers to quickly launch Local Inventory Ads. Retail advertisers already running Google Local Ads can easily import their campaigns into Microsoft Advertising.
This feature lets retailers quickly scale up their local inventory programs to ensure that they don’t miss out on sales simply because a consumer saw that the product they wished to buy was available at a competitor. Consumers are hesitant to leave their homes when they aren’t sure if their desired items are in stock, but have shown to be more than willing to go to physical stores when they know their items will be there.
“Today’s retail marketers must ensure that they are aligned to the new omnichannel needs of consumers,” says Kate DuBois, GM of Skai™ Search. “Local Inventory Ads from Microsoft Advertising are a great way to maximize in-store activity from online product research.”
In summary:
- Deliver the right information about your product at the right time to the right user, leading to a more informed click and more foot traffic to your physical location
- When you use Local Inventory Ads, you’re letting prospective customers know that you have exactly what they want, right when they’re looking to buy
Learn more about Skai’s™ Total Search Intelligence
Helping marketers to quickly scale up their Microsoft Advertising Local Inventory Ads is just an example of the many time-saving workflows, automation, and SEM campaign management features that Skai™ Search has been known for over that last 14 years.
However, in the next era of search engine marketing, we know that it will be the marketers that work smarter—not just harder—will have a competitive edge in the market. This is what is guiding our roadmap and innovation today—we call it Total Search Intelligence— and it goes beyond bidding algorithms and dashboards.
Contact us today to schedule a brief demo of Skai™ Search and learn how Total Search Intelligence can raise the level of insight and drive more performance for your campaigns.
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