Google Has a Merchandise Store?
An inside look on consumer behavior, and how to establish a stronger online presence using Google Analytics.
By: Reagan McDonald
Since when does Google have a Merchandise Store? That is precisely the question I asked myself as I began to delve into the technicalities of Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a great data analysis tool that can be utilized for all businesses big or small. Learning more about Google Analytics, I began to discover that the platform has the capabilities to generate raw data, revealing the progression of a company in various categories. Such categories include demographic, gender, age, and the type of users visiting your site, which is an effective tool in order to further establish a successful business and marketing plan for your company. In my brief experience perusing the many features of Google Analytics, I have worked closely with analyzing the data from the Google Merchandise Store. As I mentioned previously, I was able to view a live report of data coming directly from the site. My primary interest was seeing where the majority of the traffic was coming from, on a global perspective. Taking into consideration that Google is the most used search engine in the world, it is no surprise that Google as a company has the technological superpowers to pinpoint exactly where consumers of any company, not only their own, are coming from. Below, I have created an illustration highlighting the top five countries of those who have visited the Google Merchandise Store within the last week.
Through Google Analytics, I was able to see where the majority of global users are coming from. The United States leads with the most users, totaling 3,296 users overall. Following the U.S, countries like India, the United Kingdom, France, and Canada have brought in significant numbers to the Google Merchandise Store. According to the Journal of Business Research, “ Recent reports show that a majority of consumers in developed markets as well as more and more from emerging markets now use the Internet to transact goods and services on a regular basis (Achille, 2008). In the United States (U.S.) alone, Internet shopping sales have exploded from about $40 billion in 2002 to over $130 billion in 2008 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009)”(2). With the rise of digital consumerism, majority of online consumption is attributed to the users familiarity with navigating the Internet, as well as their behavioral tendencies of attaining goods at an instantaneous rate. Overall, technological advancements such as online shopping have become increasingly more popular due to the reality that “consumers are likely to view online shopping as saving time, and providing more extensive and easily accessed information related to prices and features of desired goods and services”(2). Across the globe, such trends in the market have continued to be consistent, further proving that businesses must continue to establish a strong online presence in order to increase revenue. Tools like Google Analytics make processes such as determining online traffic and gaining insight on your target audience and demographic almost seamless. Google Analytics has the virtual capabilities of not only providing the demographics relevant to your online performance, but also a gender and age breakdown of your attracted audience. Such data is displayed below, which is representative of the Google Merchandise Stores performance:
The data above displays a clear distinction between age and gender, and how such factors are related to consumer behavior. It is evident that the data provided by Google Analytics shows a predominantly male oriented audience opposed to females when visiting the Google Analytics store. Such data is a strong indicator for businesses to make strategic alterations to their marketing plan in order to bring in a more diverse audience. According to the Journal Exploring Gender Differences in Online Shopping Attitude, studies suggest “men’s cognitive, affective, and behavioral online shopping attitudes are higher than those of women, suggesting that online shopping may not be as attractive or appealing to women as it is to men”(1). In this scenario, Google Analytics provides businesses with the opportunity to review live data in order to make internal improvements to their online presence and favorability amongst specific ages and genders. Referring to the Google Merchandise Store, their main objective would be to potentially increase their female users. Though it is researched that “Females’ cognitive attitude toward online shopping is markedly lower than that of men. According to attitude theory, cognition of an object or stimulus plays a key role in affect and behavioral intention toward that object. Thus, women’s low cognitive attitude may explain their low affection toward online shopping and their modest online shopping activities. Since cognitive attitude pertains to understanding pros and cons of an object (Zhou et al., 2007), this finding suggests that females are still unconvinced or skeptical about the benefits of online shopping. Similarly, this finding may suggest the females are still concerned and apprehensive about the risks and threats associated with online shopping (Garbarino & Strahilevitze, 2004). Thus, businesses aiming to attract more female online consumers need to focus their efforts on increasing females’ awareness of the benefits associated with online shopping. Likewise, mitigating females’ uneasiness about online shopping is pivotal to attracting and retaining female online shoppers. For instance, implementing online referral mechanism or offering discounts for first-time users or visitors may help consumers overcome their negative perceptions of and alleviate their doubts about online shopping”(1). By using Google Analytics, it provides businesses with a strong idea on where to progress, and what tactics to use in the future to maximize the best performance outcomes. In order to increase online presence, you must increase brand loyalty within your company which will overall reflect an increase in site referral's and overall site activity.
Below, is data reflective of new and returning users to the Google Merchandise website.
The numbers indicated in the pie chart above show that 81% percent of Google Merchandise visitors are mostly new. Such numbers indicate that from a marketing perspective, Google Merchandise’s Team must implement a new method in order to keep visitors returning to the site at a consistent rate. Google Analytics creates opportunity for businesses to track their performance at an instantaneous rate and make beneficial changes to their marketing plan in order to increase the overall revenue of the company, thus creating a more effective shopping environment for individuals around the globe.
Sources:
(1) Hasan, Bassam. “Exploring Gender Differences in Online Shopping Attitude.” Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 26, no. 4, 2010, pp. 597–601., doi:10.1016/j.chb.2009.12.012.
(2) Smith, Rachel, et al. “Cross-Cultural Examination of Online Shopping Behavior: A Comparison of Norway, Germany, and the United States.” Journal of Business Research, vol. 66, no. 3, 2013, pp. 328–335., doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.08.013.
