The 2025 holiday season will see nearly half of all shoppers actively seeking competitive prices and take advantage of major sales events, according to Google's Holiday Essentials report. Consumers are motivated by discounts, with 32% making purchases when a sale becomes available and 30% dedicating more time to finding promotions. To capitalize on this trend in Shopping Ads, there are two key strategies. First, consider the visual aspect: aesthetic elements on your Product Listing Ads (PLAs) can help them stand out and convey the message of a great deal. Alternatively, or in addition, you can show products priced lower than competitors more frequently, appealing to the classic comparison shopping approach.
Here are some ways you can get the most out of your Shopping Ads to showcase your sales and best priced items that all start with the data feed:
Sale Badges and Merchant Promotions
Get the most out of the extra visuals that show up on the Shopping Ads this season for promotions. Ultimately you will need to understand when to use what:
- If you have products on sale that do not have the price marked down on the product landing page, then you’ll likely want to use a merchant promotion which will be shown as a hyperlink on the bottom of Shopping ads.
- If your product’s regular price and sale price shows on the product landing page, you’ll want to pass Google both of these prices in the feed (in the applicable fields) and Google will then show a sale badge on the PLA with both prices, striking through the regular price.
Price Competitiveness Custom Labels
Through a direct integration with Google Merchant Centers Market Insights retail data, you can dynamically assign custom labels to items priced at or below benchmark. These flagged products are then funneled into designated shopping campaigns with aggressive bid strategies and higher budgets to scale volume. This strategy has proven to drive a triple digit revenue lift.
Sale Products Custom Labels
Dynamically assigning products that have sale prices or are currently part of a Merchant Promotion with a special custom label can also be funneled into designated shopping campaigns with aggressive bid strategies and higher budgets to scale volume.
Summary: Achieving success this holiday season hinges on competitive pricing, but equally critical is ensuring those products are visible to maximize your return.