With the holiday season just around the corner, Google is expanding its Google Trusted Stores to help shoppers find the perfect gifts from reliable, trustworthy retailers.

 

Google Trusted Stores is a free certification program that highlights retailers that offer a consistently superb shopping experience by enabling qualifying merchants to display a badge on their website. Additionally, the certification program is now integrated with AdWords and allows Google Trusted Stores to update badges with more insights for shoppers as well as augment stores’ reach.

 

Furthermore, Google Trusted Stores now offer selling ratings which are displayed on AdWords text advertisements and Product Listing Ads on Google shopping. This feature gives shoppers more valuable information regarding the merchants while providing retailers with an easy way to earn ratings. Brands that showcase seller ratings on their advertisements often see higher click-through rates, with higher ratings more likely to generate greater click-through rates.

 

Additionally, U.S. shoppers now have access to an upgraded store performance summary that appears when they hover over the badge on a retailer site. The summary provides returns, delivery, and customer support responsiveness metrics offered by StellaService, a third-party company that impartially measures the customer service experience by shopping anonymously at online stores. 

 

By partnering with Google Trusted Stores, many online merchants have seen increased sales. Stores such as OnlineShoes and AutoAnything saw a 4.2% and 5.2% sales growth in the last year.

 

And since Google Trust Stores have generated such positive responses in the U.S., Google is currently expanding its pilot programs in the UK, France, Germany, and Australia to connect with more shoppers. Participating retailers include Schuh (UK), Spartoo.com (France), PEARL (Germany), and Kogan (Australia). 

 

Undoubtedly, Google Trusted Stores is a potent platform for retailers. As a Google Trusted Stores merchant, you can boost your credibility immensely by displaying your Google badge and selling ratings on your website. This will help you prove your product or service quality and company reliability. Also, you can display your selling ratings on your AdWords text advertisements to better connect with more consumers as the Google Trusted Stores badge demystifies your brand. This will ultimately narrow your gap with your shoppers and allow you to promote your offerings to unknown markets.

 

After all, marketing is about illustrating your products or services’ values to your audience and depict why your consumers need them. That said, in order to effectively market your offering, you must first establish credibility. By becoming a Google Trusted Store, you can become a trustworthy retailer as you can leverage Google’s performance measurement system to verify your consistent shopping experience. This enables you to induce your consumers to put their shields down and develop interests in your products or services!