E-commerce has experienced a surge during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Unfortunately, the growth has also caused placed a massive strain on the fulfillment capabilities of retailers. For example, Amazon had to hire over 175,000 fulfillment workers since mid-march due to shipping delays.
Also, Google pointed out that searches for “in-stock” grew by over 70 percent globally between March 28 and April 4. And that’s because consumers are trying to avoid potentials shipping delays.
Now, Google has come up with a messaging option to address this issue. The tech giant is testing a Curbside pickup badge to inform consumers that a product is available for nearby store pickup.
In a blog post announcement, Vice President of Product Management at Google, Darshan Kantak said:
“Using local inventory ads, retailers can show users that the products they are searching for are available for nearby store pickup. Now, you can indicate if you offer curbside pickup, right in your local inventory ads.”
Here’s how the new feature works.
Using Curbside Pickup Badge for Local Shopping Ads
Google started testing the Curbside pickup feature with a small group of Local Inventory Ad (LIA) retailers since the end of April. However, the tech giant didn’t officially announce the feature until Yesterday.
The badges appear at the top of the eligible ads on the search results for both mobile and desktop.
To enable the new feature in your LIAs, you must meet the criteria for Store Pickup. These include:
- Enabling store pickup
- Providing a curbside or contactless pickup option
- Allowing curbside or contactless pickup without shoppers using an app
Also, you must offer the first day or next day pick up from the time the customer places an order.
The feature is still in beta testing. That means you must reach out to your Google reps or fill out this form to participate in the program.
With that said, the Curbside pickup badge is only available in countries where Local Inventory Ads have launched. These include Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K., and the U.S.
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