At dbaPlatform, we constantly pursue innovative and successful methods to help local businesses increase their visibility on Google and other consumer-facing platforms. Since the release of Local Inventory on Google (See What's In Store), our clients have seen substantial improvements to their online presence and have been rewarded with a new boost of traffic.
This case study examines The Parable Group, a marketing agency, and its clients. This agency-client duo won significant results with their test group. To name a few wins:
The Parable Group is a digital marketing agency that provides marketing and retail solutions to Christian retailers across the United States. They have been serving the Christian retail industry for over 30 years, offering a range of services. Services include digital solutions to help retailers stay competitive.
The test group for this case study included 12 locations across the United States in semi-urban or suburban areas. All retail locations opted into dbaPlatform's Product Inventory services.
Retailers can only access product discovery metrics if they sync their in-store inventory with their Google Business profile. As a result, there is no basis for comparison, as none of the retailers had previously participated in Google inventory.
Google Local Product Impressions measures the number of times local product listings display to Google users. These products show across multiple Google surfaces, including search, maps, and mobile. Impressions usually stem from organic searches and therefore are a strong indicator and valuable measurement of product visibility.
Below includes a graph to visualize the total product impressions for the twelve participating locations from 2.1.23-3.16.23.
* Data represents the 12 participating retail locations. Data and graphs are taken from the dbaPlatform Near Me Metrics™ dashboard.
By adding inventory to the Google Business Profile, the Parable Group and its locations were able to capture product discovery views that were not previously accessible.
Local product listings or SWIS (See What's In Store) services improve business profile visibility on Google by turning product titles into search "keywords." Two metrics help track this impact:
Following the implementation of dbaPlatform's Product Inventory service, all 12 locations exhibited significant increases in both Listing Views and Discovery Impressions. The year-over-year comparisons for these metrics at the 12 participating locations are presented below.
*12 Locations. Compared to the same time from the previous year. Data and graphs are taken from the dbaPlatform Near Me Metrics™ dashboard.
The dbaPlatform reporting dashboard provides insights into the actions of Google users in retailers’ Google Business Profiles. Metrics include Website Visits, Mobile Calls, and Driving Directions, among the key performance indicators available for analysis.
We place a high value on Driving Directions as an indicator of new customer discovery. Since implementing local inventory, a year-over-year increase in Driving Directions for all 12 participating stores occurred.
We consider new web user acquisition a key indicator of a retailer's online performance. While we cannot definitively conclude that adding inventory is the sole reason for the observed increase in new web users, the data is highly suggestive. Specifically, there was a marked rise in new website users obtained through organic searches after introducing dbaPlatform's Local Inventory service.
The Local Product Listings are typically discovered through organic searches (e.g., “[book title] near me”), so the increased traffic may reflect the impact of adding local product inventory to the Google Business Profile.
Curious if local inventory is a good fit for your business? Chat with our team today.