Google Trusted Stores: Critical to New Google Shopping Success

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Chris Crompton in Marketing, Paid Search, Shipping with 0 Comments

Google may stink at social, but they sure get shopping. With the same breath they used to announce the new Google Shopping, they are talking up the merits of Google Trusted Stores.

A lot of insight can be gained by examining this juxtaposition. Instead of thinking of Google Shopping as the greedy replacement for Google Product Search, consider Google Shopping as a marketplace to feature Google Trusted Stores.

Given the strong weight of click-through-rate on quality score, and the certain bump of the same with the presence of this badge, Google Trusted Stores are certain to rise to the top of all major product queries and dominate the first page of results.

The only requirement for this free program is reliability. Verified by Google.

This verification badge will be displayed in three distinct locations:

Beside product listing ads on the Google search results page.
Along with merchants and products featured on Google Shopping.
On the merchant’s website.

Clicking on the badge will display a seller reliability scorecard, rating both shipping and customer service. Google is standing behind their Trusted Stores by giving customers up to $1,000 in reimbursement if a transaction goes wrong with a Google Trusted Store.

This isn’t just a nice 3rd party credibility symbol… this one has real teeth and has already been shown to influence conversion rate while it influences click-through-rate.

All retailers need to start the process of becoming a Google Trusted Store. With all the uncertainty about the impact of Google Shopping, this one move will position you for success.

Need another reason to make haste? The Trusted Stores scorecard will list the total number of transactions funneled through the program. The sooner you become a Google Trusted Store, the larger your transaction count will be in time for the Christmas rush. When you have 3,953 transactions with a 99.8% on-time-delivery rate and your competitor has 178, who will the customer choose for their business?