How LA LUMIERE boosted Google Ad visibility by combining Shopping Feed optimization and CSS

LA LUMIERE is an online lighting store offering a curated selection of high-end indoor and outdoor lighting from prestigious brands, featuring modern and designer lamps for home and garden.

Mathieu (Director) implements a multichannel strategy (Google, Pinterest, Facebook, Awin) for his e-commerce shop. With over 4,000 products on the site, automation was strongly recommended by the agencies he works with (Le Mage du SEA, Pin-Ads Consulting). LA LUMIERE was also using Google Shopping CSS and sought an alternative to lower Google Shopping bids.

Le Mage du SEA : Google Ads & Microsoft Ads experts with over 10 years of experience in leading global advertising groups (WPP, Havas, Labelium), managing over €20 million in Google ad spend for their clients, and recognized as the leading PPC content creator in France.

Before implementing Channable

LA LUMIERE, which runs on Shopify, previously used the API connector to push its product catalog to Google Merchant Center. While quick to set up, this method had significant limitations in controlling the product information sent. For instance, Shopping ads generated from this feed didn't display crossed-out prices during sales or energy certifications, which are crucial in the lighting sector.

To optimize the feed according to Google Shopping best practices and expand to new channels like Pinterest, the experts at Le Mage du SEA recommended using Channable.

Shopping Ads Optimization

The implementation of Channable involved all platform users, with LA LUMIERE's team participating in training to set up the desired optimizations on the self-service tool.

Axel Falck (Head of PPC) from Le Mage du SEA then applied Google’s best practices to enhance Shopping feed optimization, including:

• Adding missing GTINs (over 400 products)
• Creating the "product type" attribute for categorization
• Setting up the "sales price" attribute for promotions
• Optimizing product images
• Adding the brand to the "brand" attribute
• Refining short or long titles (max 150 characters)
• Improving product descriptions (minimum 500 characters)
• Adding the "certification" attribute for energy class.

Deployment of Channable CSS

First, what is a CSS? A Comparative Shopping Service (CSS) is a shopping comparison engine. Google Shopping has its own CSS, used by most advertisers.

However, few eCommerce businesses know that since 2018, Google had to open its Shopping engine to third-party CSSs in Europe due to unfair competition. The Google CSS program, to which Channable belongs as a Premium Partner, offers an alternative to traditional Google Shopping campaigns, allowing advertisers to save up to 25% on their Google Shopping bids!

Each CSS provides the same service but with different payment models. Google Shopping charges merchants based on a CPC (cost per click) model.

In other words, using Channable's CSS should help advertisers like LA LUMIERE reduce CPC on their ads. But what’s the reality?

Here’s a detailed comparison of CPCs by product type between the period before the CSS change and after implementing Channable CSS.

On July 4, 2024, the experts at Le Mage du SEA migrated from Google Shopping CSS to Channable CSS. This change was completed in just a few clicks and became effective within a few hours.

The CSS change request was made late in the morning around 11 a.m. and was effective a few hours later, early in the afternoon on the same day. The transition was quick and seamless, with no data loss and no hassle. - Axel Falck, Head of SEA, Le Mage du SEA.

Result

⇒ The CPC decreased by an average of 11.3% across all ads after the CSS change.
Note if you are not seeing the full 20% reduction in CPC after a CSS switch, it may be due to your campaigns being in a suboptimal bidding range. If you're underbidding, the additional 25% bidding power might not be enough to impact your auction participation, and you may need to raise your bids or lower your ROAS target. Conversely, if you're overbidding and already achieving a high impression share, the extra bidding power may have minimal effect, suggesting a need to lower your bids or raise your ROAS target to enhance profitability.

Because there's always room for optimization…

The next step to further improve the performance of LA LUMIERE's site will be to consider the actual product performance, enabling better segmentation of Google Ads campaigns and more effective budget allocation. As Alexandre explains:

“For the next step, we're implementing feed segmentation using 'Custom Label 1' to tag 'Best Sellers.' We select the top revenue-generating products for a dedicated campaign to maximize ROI. Then, Matthieu will test this technique on other acquisition channels to further optimize ROI." - Alexandre Falck, CEO at Le Mage du SEA.

This performance data retrieval is made possible on Channable by connecting Google Ads and GA4 to the platform. Check out here how to do it in a few clicks.

An Effective collaboration between an eCommerce business, agencies, and Channable

The early involvement of both LA LUMIERE and its agencies, Le Mage du SEA and Pin Ads Consulting, enabled the rapid deployment of the Channable platform and its feed management and CSS features.

Like over 800 digital agencies across Europe, they recognize the undeniable benefits of product feed optimization for their clients. If you aim to expand your clients’ online advertising reach and have a ROI-driven impact on their growth, Channable is the tool you need.

Contact us today, and one of our specialists will help you understand how Channable can support you.