What is Google Merchant Center? How to use it?

Google Merchant Center is a Google tool that offers e-commerce sites great advantages in the retail space. It aims to help online retail and e-commerce owners achieve their target conversions. Google Merchant Center allows products to be sold online and to appear in Google searches. Consumers view the products they are looking for with information such as images and prices on the Google search engine without going to websites.

For example, let’s say a customer types a shoe model into the Google search bar. If this shoe model is available in your business’s stock, it will appear on Google. Of course, for this, the information in the Merchant Center must be complete and accurate. In short, this tool makes it easier for consumers and helps businesses increase their awareness and sales. Moreover, it is as simple and straightforward to use as other Google tools.

As E-Commerce 101 Academy, in this article, we will discuss Google Merchant Center in detail. We will focus on what is Google Merchant Center and how to use Google Merchant Center. By using Merchant Center, you can gain strategies that will benefit your e-commerce sales and strategies that will increase your visibility. We wish you a pleasant reading.

What is Google Merchant Center?

In this section, we will briefly answer the question of what Google Merchant Center is. Google Merchant Center is a tool designed for e-commerce businesses used with Google Shopping. It was introduced as an information source for organic product listings presented in the Google Shopping Tab. It is a platform where e-commerce sites upload product information such as images, stock status, color and price.

Google Merchant Center is not an e-commerce store where products are sold. However, it helps online shoppers find the products they are looking for on websites or e-commerce stores. For this, it provides consumers with an organic listing of e-commerce businesses.

Merchant Center is free to use. It can be integrated with Google tools such as Google Ads, Google My Business for more effective and efficient analysis of e-commerce sites. This tool enables the creation of paid advertising campaigns for Google, YouTube and other Google partner tools. Thus, businesses can easily follow the statistics and analyze them.

Without a Google Merchant Center account, your products will not be listed on Google Shopping. In addition, you cannot create a Product Ad without completing the missing information in your Google Merchant Center account. You should also check the accuracy and currency of the product information. You should follow Merchant Center’s policies and updates. If you use this tool effectively with official language, you will gain the trust of customers.

Moreover, this tool provides information about shipping costs and taxes for your e-commerce business. In addition, by controlling feeds, you can also set up returns and refunds.

Merchant Center’ın tasarlanma amacı online alışverişin kolay yapılmasını ve denetlenmesini sağlar. Siz de e-ticaret sitenizde satışını gerçekleştirdiğiniz ürünleri Google Merchant Center’a yükleyebilirsiniz. Böylece Google arama sonuçlarında mevcut ürünlerinizin görüntülenmesini sağlarsınız.

Google Merchant Center Price

As we mentioned in the What is Google Merchant Center section, Merchant Center is a free tool. But it includes services that require a fee. With Google Shopping, you can advertise your products in stock. When you create ads to interact with consumers, you have to pay a fee. The pricing depends on the tariff you choose and the engagement the ads receive.

Cost per click (CPC): With CPC, your ads are charged per click. You have to pay a certain amount of money each time customers click on your ads.

Cost per interaction (CPE): With CPE, you are charged every time a customer interacts with the ad. Examples include scrolling an ad, viewing an ad for more than 10 seconds, expanding a collapsed ad, etc.

How to Use Google Merchant Center?

In this section, we will talk about how to use Google Merchant Center.

Account Creation: A Gmail account or Google My Business account is required to create a Google Merchant Center Account.

Access: Click on the Google Merchant Center link and enter the “Get Started” button.

Get Started: Merchant Center offers users an easy onboarding experience. You can seamlessly create your account by completing the steps within.

Step 1: Enter your business information to meet Google’s Feed requirements. This includes the address where the business is registered, website address and name, and contact number.

Step 2: Choose where your customers will pay. Set purchase parameters for your store. You can make multiple selections and change them at any time. Payment options include website, Google, and local store checkout.

• On your website: A customer sees your product listing on Google and is redirected to the website to buy.
• On Google: A customer sees your product listing on Google and makes a purchase without leaving Google. Even if they pay for your product listings on Google, they can also pay on your website.
• In your local store: A customer sees your product listing on Google and stops by your local store to make a purchase.

Step 3: Choose your third-party platforms. Make things easier and better served by integrating your Merchant Center account with third-party tools. You can integrate with tools like YouTube, Google Maps, Google Ads and Google Analytics. You can connect with more tools at any time.

Step 4: Choose your email preferences. This will let customers know how they should reach you. You can also opt out of this feature at any time by signing up to receive tips and updates about Merchant Center.

Once you agree to Google Merchant Center’s terms of service, you are ready to use this tool.

How to Add Products to Google Merchant Center? How to Create a Data Feed?

Creating a Data Feed in Google Merchant Center is required to display all product details in Google Shopping. A unique product information is entered for each product in the Data Feed. It must be in a form that Google can accept. This information includes the product ID, title and link to the relevant product on the website, price, image and description. This information must be complete and up to date. This way, Google understands what the products are related to and lists them in its search engine.

There are 3 different methods to upload products from your e-commerce business to Merchant Center. These are and XML import, manual upload and upload via Content API or you can use FTP/SFTP.

Importing XML: A Product Feed is a TXT, Google Sheets, XML file or content API with your product information. TXT or XML file formats are generated in Excel spreadsheets.

Manual Upload: Product information is added one by one. This method is preferred by very few people because it takes too long.

Upload via Content API or FTP/SFTP: Content API, FTP and SFTP allow you to automatically transfer your products to your account. With FTP and SFTP, the product information in your saved file is transferred regularly or entered manually. In the Content API method, data is transferred directly from your website.

Tips to Help You Grow with Google Merchant Center

Here are some tips for Merchant Center to help your business grow:

Sell your products around the world: There are more than 90 countries that shop online on Google. This gives you the opportunity to launch and promote your products globally. For this, you should set your Feed setting in Merchant Center to multi-country. This gives you the chance to promote your in-stock products to your target audience around the world.

Promote promotions: 40% of shoppers worldwide use Google to find the best deals. With the advantage of this situation, you can promote your shopping ads using Merchant Center. You can do this promotion only for the products you choose.

Get better results with customized deals: With Google Merchant Center, you can organize your product and business information in your e-commerce business and improve your results. To do this, check out the Deals page in Merchant Center. You can then find out how to improve product data and campaigns.

Advantages of Google Merchant Center

Google Merchant Center has many advantages. These are as follows:

• You can benefit regardless of the size of your business.
• Opportunity to highlight product and business information on Google.
• Possibility to edit and update products on the platform.
• Possibility to control how products appear in Google search.
• The chance to upload Product Data Feeds to Google and show them to online shoppers.
• The chance to reach more people and make sales with Google Shopping Ads.
• Contact Google experts directly for more information or in case of a problem.
• Reach more people by integrating with Google tools. For example, getting in front of more people on platforms such as Search, YouTube, Google Assistant and Maps.
• Integrate with Google tools to get more reports and results. For example, stock analysis, customer analysis, competitor analysis.
• The chance to manage your marketing strategy on Google in a more coordinated way.

An Example of Google Merchant Center in E-Commerce: Trendyol

Known and experienced by almost everyone in Turkey, Trendyol is one of the leading e-commerce retailers. This e-commerce store offers a wide range of products from clothing to shoes. Trendyol uses Google Merchant Center to show its wide range of products to potential customers. By using Google Shopping ads, Trendyol appears frequently and at the top of the Google search bar. By following the Feed Rules, Trendyol saves both time and conversions. According to the statistics on the Google Merchant Center page, Trendyol has shown 1.5-2 times higher ROAS and 8%-15% increase in conversion rates by using this tool.

As E-Commerce 101 Academy, in this article, we discussed Google Merchant Center in detail. We focused on what is Google Merchant Center and how to use Google Merchant Center. Because there are 100 millions of users who search for shopping on Google every day.

To increase your earnings, you should put your e-commerce products and business information at the forefront of Google. To get on the Google Shopping tab, you should use the Merchant Center tool carefully. This way, consumers can see your products in stock on the Google search engine and come to your site. This can help you realize your sales goals by increasing your site traffic and awareness.

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This article was translated from Turkish by deepl.com. For original content, please click here.