Store visit conversions: link store visits to your online campaigns

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Store visit conversions: link store visits to your online campaigns

Anyone building an online business, such as a webshop, can relatively easily track where their audience is coming from and which campaign led to a specific sale. For this, online tools like Google Analytics are used.

But what about physical stores? How do you know that the woman in the blue jacket is making a purchase because she came across your first Google Ads campaign 30 minutes earlier?

Google recently launched Store Visit Conversions for this.

What is Store Visit Conversions?

Store Visit Conversions is a tool from Google that allows you to measure the offline Return on Investment (ROI) of your Google Ads campaigns. For example, you can see which keywords within which campaigns have driven the most offline traffic to your store.

How does it work?

Google counts a Store Visit Conversion when clicking on a Google Ad leads someone to visit the advertiser’s physical store. This means that someone sees an ad on their smartphone, desktop, or tablet first. The customer does not have to be in the store immediately after clicking; it could happen later. You need to set the time frame within Google that works for you, where a store visit is still attributed to an ad click.

It’s also important to know that Google only reports a Store Visit once it exceeds a certain ‘safety margin.’ This means that only visits above a certain threshold of tracked store visits will be reported.

But what technology does Google use to know when we actually visit a store? First, they use our location data within Google Earth and Google Maps—provided that we have this historical data turned on in our Google account. Secondly, Google can check the strength of a specific Wi-Fi signal on our mobile devices to determine whether we are in a store. They also look at the built-in GPS function of our smartphones, comparing that signal with the property boundaries set by stores on maps.

Lastly, Google also analyzes our behavior. It’s not the case that someone entering a store just to ask for directions should be counted as a store visit. Likewise, employees in the store shouldn’t be counted as store visits. Therefore, Google looks at the time spent within the store’s defined boundaries. Additionally, the browsing behavior of individuals inside the store is also considered as an extra factor.

Benefits of Store Visit Conversions

Thanks to Store Visit Conversions, you can discover which campaigns, keywords, and devices are driving the most physical visits to your business. With this insight into Return on Investment, you can better tailor your future campaigns, minimizing wasted spend on ‘shots in the dark.’

This is particularly interesting for entrepreneurs in industries where physical visits to the point of sale are still essential. Take car sales, for example. Most customers still visit the showroom before making their final decision. Nissan capitalized on this by carefully analyzing which Google Ads and specific keywords were driving store visits. These insights and optimizations led to a 25-fold increase in their ROI.

Requirements for Store Visit Conversions

To use this feature, there are a few requirements you must meet:

  • You must have one or more physical stores.
  • Your Google Ads campaign must have enough representative data. Specifically, you need to reach a few thousand clicks and impressions.
  • You must have a Google My Business account.
  • At least 90% of the locations must be registered in Google My Business.
  • The location parameters in your Google Ads campaign(s) must be enabled.
  • There must be enough physical store visits for Google to draw conclusions.

Practical: Getting started with Store Visit Conversions is done through your Google My Business account. After logging in, link your My Business to your Google Ads (via Google Ads – ‘Campaigns’ – ‘Ad Extensions’ – ‘Location Extensions’ – red button ‘Extension’).

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