Customer Acquisition : EmpireCovers.com Acquires New Customers Via Google Shopping

EmpireCovers.com, a Philadelphia-based online retailer that manufactures and sells automotive, marine, patio and power sport protective covers, has seen new customer acquisition as well as its clickthrough rate increase since launching a program on Google's new Shopping platform earlier this year. In addition, EmpireCovers.com's cost-per-acquisition (CPA) and cost-per-click (CPC) rates have declined since it began using Google Shopping.

Google Shopping provides consumers with a new shopping experience within Google search, while giving marketers who use product listing ads (PLAs) more control over when and where their products appear in search results.

"Under the Google Shopping model, we have more control to set pricing and bids on product-specific categories," said Robert Brous, search engine marketing manager at EmpireCovers.com, in a company press release. "We know that we'll be served in the most relevant places. We can quickly and easily maneuver to capitalize on the product categories that beckon niche companies similar to ours, and can compete with them intelligently."

After EmpireCovers.com launched its PLA campaign on Google Shopping this past spring, its CPA declined 36 percent from April to August, while CPC dropped 11 percent from July to August. What's more, the retailer's clickthrough rate climbed 55 percent from July to August.

"PLAs have taken their place at the table in our paid search strategy along with search campaigns and remarketing," Brous said. "These three techniques now make up the backbone of our paid search strategy. As we develop new products and new websites, and as we sit in photo shoots and develop and design new catalogs and ads, we have to leave room in the conversation now for PLAs and Google Shopping."

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