For brick-and-mortar retailers, Local Inventory Ads are pivotal in bridging the gap between online searches and in-store purchases. These ads inform potential customers of the availability of products at nearby physical stores. Google, the leading platform in this domain, hosts an astounding 8.5 billion searches daily—equating to 99,000 searches every second. Since the average person conducts 3-4 searches daily, it's noteworthy that approximately 46% of these are targeted at local businesses and services. Remarkably, 28% of these local searches result in a purchase on the same day.
While Bing, another player in local inventory advertising, offers similar capabilities, its market share is considerably smaller compared to Google’s commanding 89.73%.
Conversion rates on search engines like Google and Bing are typically higher. This is primarily because users are actively searching for products, signifying stronger purchase intent. Aside from these large search engines, more platforms are entering the local inventory advertising landscape, which continually expands and evolves. Notably, Meta's Local Inventory Product Catalog program is in its Beta phase, with limited public information available. However, at VersaFeed, we have hands-on experience helping clients onboard this program, so do reach out if you seek more information or assistance in setting it up.
Pinterest is also making significant strides in developing its own Local Inventory ad offering, a service VersaFeed has successfully launched. Moreover, numerous display vendors are now seeking localized feeds to enhance their advertising strategies. With Snapchat reportedly poised to join this dynamic field, it’s evident that local inventory product advertising is on an upward trajectory. This trend underscores its potential value, making it a strategic consideration for retailers aiming to optimize their local marketing efforts.