Besides manufacturing products, you had to set up a warehouse to store your inventory. You’d need to buy trucks. Then you’d have to hire reliable staff to drive them.

This was all before figuring out how to ship products across multiple countries and currencies.

Then came dropshipping. What is it? For many people, dropshipping is a business model that has made online entrepreneurship possible for the first time.

Dropshipping: what it is and how it works

Dropshipping means you’re outsourcing key areas of fulfilling eCommerce orders. This includes procuring products, storing and shipping them to customers.

How to dropship depends on the partners and providers you use. In the most common scenarios, your focus as a seller is on marketing and attracting customers to your online storefront or marketplace. Then, as orders get placed, sellers confirm them to customers, pass the order information to their dropshipping service partners who fulfill them.

For sellers who master how dropshipping works, eCommerce becomes highly efficient. Instead of making their own products, for instance, they can sell goods from other vendors and take a cut. As long as they can ensure a good customer experience across the entire eCommerce journey, it can be a profitable business model.

Researchers estimate dropshipping will grow on a global level by nearly 24% between now and 2032, becoming a market worth more than $1.9 billion.

That said, sellers shouldn’t be fooled by images of sitting by the beach running an eCommerce business with little more than a laptop. Dropshipping has become highly competitive. You have to keep a close eye on profit margins and other key data points. Supply chain disruptions can grind your business to a halt. There are also a number of legal issues and liability risks to consider.

This post will not only answer the question, ‘Dropshipping: what is it?” We’ll also walk through the essential areas you need to know. We’ll not only cover what dropshipping is, but the differences of dropshipping on Amazon and other marketplaces.  We’ll also look at the technologies you need you have in place for dropshipping and how to get started.

Dropshipping without a VAT number: Is it possible?

Dropshipping allows you to begin thinking about growing your business on an international scale from the moment you launch. While digital channels have made it easier to market and sell to customers in almost any geography, you also have to take into consideration legislation that governs these processes. The United Kingdom’s value-added tax (VAT) is a good example. Read before you try dropshipping without a VAT number.

Having a VAT number is a standard practice for many businesses, but the requirements from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) differ depending on where you operate. This is true for those using dropshipping suppliers as well. If you’re based in the U.K., for example, you’ll only need to register for a VAT number if your turnover exceeds more than £85,000 a year.

For those selling from outside the U.K., however, dropshipping without a VAT number is impossible if your target market includes U.K. customers. This includes those based in Italy or many other countries.

Fortunately, HMRC has simplified the process by offering VAT number registration through its website. Remember to talk to your accountant about whether expenses associated with VAT registration and import fees can be written off as part of filing your business taxes.

ATECO code for dropshipping

One of the most critical steps in getting your VAT number is using the correct ATECO code. First introduced by the Italian National Institute of Statistics in 2008, ATECO codes are a combination of letters and numbers that classify businesses according to the scope of their economic activity. This informs your business in terms of tax rates and social security contributions.

In this case, the ATECO code for eCommerce businesses, including those that use dropshipping services, is 47.91.10. It applies to both online stores that operate as a single brand as well as marketplace entities such as eBay, Amazon and Zalando.

Once you’ve submitted your ATECO code as part of the VAT registration process, you’ll also need to register your business with INPS to determine how much you’ll pay in contributions based on your business revenue. There are also fees you’ll need to pay to the Chamber of Commerce and municipality in which you’re operating. These range from €53.00 to a maximum of € 128.00. Always do your research to check for any changes to these requirements and consult a taxation or accounting expert to field any other questions.

Dropshipping suppliers: Which are the most reliable?

Although dropshipping takes away many of the headaches associated with selling online, you’ll only succeed based on the quality of your partners.

When you’re looking at manufacturers, for example, you may want to order samples to ensure your customers will get quality items. There should be consistency between what they see on your web site and what arrives at their doorstep, for example. It should work or fit as customers expect.

You also can’t afford to sell products that arrive damaged or incomplete. Items should be properly packaged and in a reasonable timeframe. For some product categories, pricing can be highly competitive, and you don’t want to opt for a manufacturer whose prices will cut in too heavily to your profit margin.

Apply the same attention to detail when you seek out dropshipping suppliers who will handle other stages of your customer experience. Depending on your target market, you’ll want to work with those who have warehouses in reasonable proximity to your customers to save on shipping costs. Suppliers should also be able to demonstrate speed and efficiency in every stage of fulfillment and delivery.

Take the time to discuss critical processes that will have an impact on customer satisfaction and your overall reputation. Things can always go wrong with e-commerce orders, whether it’s sending the wrong size or the customer simply changes their mind. Choose suppliers with reasonable return policies and refund policies. Check to see that they have adequate insurance to cover off any unfortunate errors.

Some sellers launch their business by having a network of several different suppliers that handle each aspect of manufacturing, order management and fulfillment. Another option is to work through an online marketplace. These sites may already have the visitor traffic you need to entice the kind of customers you want.

Better yet, marketplaces often operate a range of dropshipping services that make the process far more streamlined. Here are some of the most common examples:

Amazon dropshipping

Amazon is one of the best-known marketplaces in the world, especially in North America. That means there are likely a lot of potential customers browsing for their next purchase, which could include what you’re trying to sell.

Amazon dropshipping rules include making sure you’re the seller of record. This means you’re not only registered to let consumers make purchases, but that you’re setting prices and taking responsibility for returns. Even if you have other dropshipping suppliers shipping orders, you’re accountable to collecting sales tax and recording your revenue.

eBay dropshipping

It may have started as an online auction house, but eBay has become another giant in eCommerce and sees nearly 740 million visitors a month.

The biggest consideration for eBay dropshipping is to ensure you own the product you’re selling. For example, eBay does not allow you to take orders for a product from a listing you’ve posted and then purchase from another party that is also selling on eBay.

As long as you have a dropshipping supplier who can store your products on your behalf – or if you have a wholesale agreement – you can drop ship on eBay, which it also calls “product sourcing.” Other standard eBay dropshipping policies include making sure your items arrive safely based on the timeframe your listing includes, and that you take ownership of customer satisfaction and service.

Zalando dropshipping

With a focus on selling clothing and accessories, Zalando has continued to become a huge player in the European eCommerce market. Its most recent reports showed the overall volume of active customers have grown by 6%, reaching a total of more than 51 million shoppers.

Dropshipping on Zalando can be done through its Partner Program, which provides sellers not only with access to its marketplace but resources such as Zalando Partner University and the ZDirect platform to manage your online presence. Zalando governs dropshipping and other sales approaches based on its customer experience model (CXM), a set of key performance indicators it monitors to ensure it has the right members in its partner program.

What to sell through dropshipping? Discover the most searched products

The dropshipping model works for almost any physical product. You can find sellers who have been successful creating eCommerce businesses around everything from air fryers and camping gear to interior décor and pet toys. Fashion, however, represents one of the most promising dropshipping niches.

In a study that compared categories such as electronics, toys, furniture and food, fashion emerged as the top dropshipping segment. The same research has forecast fashion dropshipping to reach a compound annual growth rate of nearly 25% by 2030.

Signature clothing and apparel is a natural choice for dropshipping sellers. The products are always in-demand among online shoppers and easy to advertise through digital channels such as social media. Luxury fashion and style products also present considerable upsell and cross-selling opportunities, given that footwear and accessories can often complement existing purchases.

A category like fashion also provides a good reminder of choosing the right supplier. Signature clothing may be more prone to competition and returns, which means sellers should aim for providing an experience that is as easy and seamless as possible. Customers will expect to find the items they want quickly, and feel confident they’re ordering what is already in stock.

How much can you earn through dropshipping?

The revenue you’ll generate by operating your eCommerce brand with dropshipping services can be difficult to predict. Research the following areas to inform your calculations:

• Google trending searches: Use keywords that represent your niche and its products and get a sense of how often consumers are using them as they browse online. This can give an indication of current and future demand.
• Average order value: Explore retail industry analyst studies that show how much consumers tend to spend on the kind of products you’ll be selling.
• Average monthly visitors: Estimate the traffic you could achieve through online advertising and other marketing tactics. Alternatively, look at visits to popular online marketplaces where you could feature your brand.

With these data points in place, you can develop a conservative estimate based on a conversion rate of 1.01% and 1.04% and apply it to your expected average monthly visitors based on the average order value.

Successful sellers spend a lot of time in this area, factoring in macroeconomic conditions, tracking regional online shopping trends and ongoing analysis of the top competitors in their respective niche.

Dropshipping and invoices: Step-by-step operation

Managing stock, order fulfillment and other areas bring a lot of value to busy eCommerce sellers, and your suppliers deserve to be paid consistently and on time.

Invoicing for dropshipping services works a little differently than in a traditional physical retail environment, where a customer pays a merchant directly for a product it manufactured itself. The process usually looks something like this:

Step 1

A consumer browses the seller’s virtual store, which is fed with product catalog data connected to all key suppliers.

Step 2

Consumers place orders which are sent by the seller to the dropshipping suppliers, who then fulfill the orders.

Step 3

Suppliers generate a purchase order and invoice the seller for each item. This is where special discounts, dropshipping service fees, returns allowances and other terms are applied.

Step 4

Sellers pay the invoices, often through a business credit card or payment portal.

Step 5

Suppliers sent a receipt to sellers confirming payment.

Sometimes sellers can work out agreements with suppliers to be invoiced on a weekly or monthly basis. Volume discounts may also be available for sellers who manage to achieve high conversions and orders.

While dropshipping and invoicing may look simple at a high level, there’s a lot that can go wrong behind the scenes. That’s because everything in the steps above is predicated upon using accurate and up-to-date data across both seller and supplier eCommerce platforms.

Invoices don’t just been to be dated properly, for instance. Each one needs to be associated with a PO number from the seller’s ordering system. Ship dates, tracking number, delivery method, handling fees, miscellaneous charges – these are all key pieces of the puzzle. The invoice status needs to be recognized too, as either “outstanding” or “paid.”

Besides ensuring all parties are clear on return policies and handling fees, sellers and dropshipping suppliers will need to negotiate whether batch invoicing is permitted. Advertising co-op dollars and rules around paying for single-item orders are just two examples of other variables to consider. When it’s done well, invoicing should be a simple formality that both dropshipping suppliers and sellers take for granted.

Advantages of dropshipping using Suvae.org

The potential upside of using dropshipping to power an eCommerce business brings a lot of new players into the market. When it comes time to find the right tools, however, you’ll want to work with solution providers with a proven track record that you can trust.

At Suvae.org, for example, we’ve created the technologies that can bring greater peace of mind and confidence to sellers who see dropshipping as the backbone of their business. Work with us because:

• Suvae.org is already the product feed management and marketplace integration services platform of choice for some of the world’s leading retailers.
• Our software ensures the product catalog data shown on a seller’s site or within an online marketplace is the most recent and accurate picture of what’s in stock
• We can not only assist with selling through a seller’s web site or marketplaces but through the most popular social media channels, including Instagram, TikTok and more.
• We work fast – many brands have gotten up and running on marketplaces like Amazon and Zalando in a matter of weeks.
• We’re a true partner – our team provides deep expertise in eCommerce to help guide your long-term marketing and sales strategy.
• Suvae.org is constantly evolving with new features and capabilities to keep pace with the expectations of eCommerce brands and their customers.

Ready to take advantage of dropshipping? Connect with our team to learn more about our solutions, and how we can help you move forward today.

The post Dropshipping Guide: How to sell online anywhere, anytime appeared first on Suvae.org.

It’s not an additional holiday.
It doesn’t even have a specific date.
It’s what some are calling “Early Black Friday.”

Since mid-October, several brands have already been offering special promotions and discounts in advance of the official Black Friday holiday on Nov. 25. With more brands trying to make up for challenges over the past two years, the race to capture consumers’ time, and attention and wallet has already begun. That said, there is still time to use these Black Friday advertising tips to ensure you stay competitive.

Shopping behavior during Black Friday: What you need to know

To some extent, Black Friday activity may be starting earlier given the supply chain disruptions that made it difficult for some brands to fulfill orders in 2021. Some retailers were also trying to balance the surge in cross-channel activity between eCommerce and welcoming back shoppers to physical stores.

Overall, consumers in the U.S. spent a total of $8.9 billion on Black Friday 2021, but research indicates there is plenty of opportunity for companies with a strong Black Friday marketing strategy to win over new customers.  52% of Black Friday 21 shoppers were first-time buyers – in other words, they were trying out a brand for the first time. In terms of converting those customers into repeat buyers, apparel was the sector that proved best able to recapture buyers from earlier in the year.

How to use the data to develop better Black Friday advertising ideas

Don’t think of Black Friday as simply a way to drive revenue. Success comes from recognizing it as an opportunity to offer real value to customers.

This not only includes the pricing on items you offer. It’s also about making it fast and easy for customers to find the deals you’re offering, understand what makes your brand different, and how well you know their needs. By focusing on building stronger connections with your customers and the experience you bring them during a moment like Black Friday, you’ll be in a better position to entice them to make purchases and capitalize on the sense of urgency they already feel.

Among many Black Friday advertising ideas you might find online, your Black Friday Checklist should also cover the following activities:

1. Leverage Social Commerce

Yes, consumers are shopping online, but not just by going directly to brand websites. They get inspired by the styles they see while scrolling through platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and even TikTok.

More than a third or 36% of consumers will be looking for Black Friday deals on social media.

Social media marketing can include content you post on your own branded accounts, but consider looking at your referral traffic as well as third-party benchmarks to determine the channels your target audience uses most. Then, develop an ad campaign that ensures maximum reach and conversion through targeted social media marketing.

2. Gain Visibility on Price Comparison Sites

Given the increased costs they face for everyday items amid rising inflation, consumers are probably approaching this holiday season with caution. They are also increasingly savvy about the competitive nature of retail and know that doing a little extra online homework could help them get more value for their money.

This explains why 40% of consumers globally look at price comparison sites to check for the availability of the items they’re considering. Pricespy, PriceRunner, and Idealo are all among the most popular destinations in this category.

While some price comparison sites do their curation, directly integrating your product feed with them ensures you’ll be among the contenders when shoppers come looking.

3. Boost Availability In Multiple Online Marketplaces

Though many consumers will no doubt make a return to physical shopping malls over the holidays, they’re increasingly apt to look for a similar experience online. Almost half (49%) of consumers are making purchases from online marketplaces at least once a month, and 35% are doing so weekly. Amazon is just one example.

Think of using online marketplaces as part of your Black Friday marketing strategy as a way to grow and reach consumers that may not have been exposed to your brand before. The ability to integrate product feeds with online marketplaces is essential here, as it helps you to scale order management at every stage of the buying journey, including identifying fulfillment locations and handling returns.

4. Partner with a Retargeting Service

When consumers sit down to shop on Black Friday, they may navigate through dozens of sites in a sitting. That means they could easily miss a digital ad the first time around.

Fortunately, studies show retargeting can increase online sales by 20%. Perhaps even better, retargeting can reduce shopping cart abandonment by reminding consumers to go back and complete their purchases. Retargeting is usually among the services provided by third-party vendors, or sometimes directly as a service from channels such as Google or Facebook. Retargeting won’t be effective, however, unless you’ve adopted product feed management solutions that ensure the quality and structure of your catalog data. Optimizing for factors such as the correct country, currency, and keywords will keep retargeting campaigns contextual and relevant.

5. Push Promotions through Google Shopping Ads

If you don’t already have a Google Merchant Center (GMC) account, make this part of your list of Black Friday advertising tips and sign up for one.
GMC allows you to highlight particular products or styles for your most discerning customers through cost-per-click (CPC) Google Shopping Actions campaigns. This is yet another plank in an omnichannel retail strategy that could propel Black Friday sales

That said running Google Shopping Ads requires staying in compliance with Google’s standards, such as not advertising products that are out of stock. Product feed management avoids these kinds of errors and helps contribute to a good rating from Google.

6. Appeal to the Neighborhood Crowd with Local Ads

Last year, 80% of consumers said they wanted to support local businesses as they planned shopping expeditions. This didn’t just include paying an in-person visit to a retailer in their neighborhood. 70% said they were shopping locally either online or using a mix of online and physical browsing.

Be sure to include Local Inventory Ads in your list of Black Friday advertising ideas too. Optimizing landing pages and promoting only what is available nearby ensures customers aren’t disappointed and can easily get the products they want without waiting a long time for shipping Product feed management helps here too, by promoting specific items within a particular radius, which means you’re sending the most qualified buyers possible to your stores.

The Importance of Product Feeds

As with any peak period in the shopping season, Black Friday is a time you should be focused on your customers and their needs. Having to spend excess time manually configuring and adjusting product feeds gets in the way of that, and poses the risk of making human errors that damage your customer experience.

Black Friday can be an extremely busy time for retailers, which means no one can afford to have mistakes in product or catalog data. This is a moment to not only drive sales but create a positive impression that will bring customers back through the rest of the shopping season. Product feed management solves this by keeping your data continuously synchronized and tailored to the channel where your customers shop.

Prepare Your Black Friday Advertising Campaigns With Suvae.org

Suvae.org’s product feed management solutions were designed with major events like Black Friday in mind. We make it easy to provide product feeds to any critical shopping channel while making sure pricing, inventory, and other data are properly displayed. This drives strong performance across digital channels and in turn, increased sales.

Give your Black Friday campaigns a boost with Suvae.org. Contact us now to get started.

The post 6 Black Friday Advertising Tips to sell more this season appeared first on Suvae.org.

This type of buyer journey happens more often than you think. To prevent your business from missing out on the sales from these customers, include Facebook Retargeting Ads as a part of your Advantage+ catalog campaigns (formerly Dynamic Product Ads).

Retargeting reduces cart abandonment by 6.5%. (MotoCMS)

Retargeting ads work by reminding customers about products they’ve previously visited or bought on your website, mobile app, Marketplace, or Facebook/Instagram Shop. This popular marketing tactic helps retailers increase the performance of shopping campaigns on Facebook.
Find out more about the benefits of Facebook retargeting ads and how to get more engagement from personalized and up-to-date product catalog campaigns.

Benefits of Running Facebook Retargeting Ads

Just like getting a regular oil change for your car to get the best performance, running Facebook retargeting ads is an essential part of getting the most ROI from your Facebook Catalog Ads (Advantage+) media spend.

Benefits include:

• Pushing abandoned cart users to buy
• Re-engaging previous customers
• Converting customers with high intent
• Increasing brand awareness
• Acquiring new customers

How to Retarget on Facebook with Catalog Ads

A Facebook Retargeting Campaign can only be done if you’ve already run previous campaigns. With a Facebook pixel on your website or App you can build a retargeting audience to use for future ads.
The following steps from the Facebook website will help you create a retargeting campaign from start to finish.

Step 1: Create Your Retargeting Pixel

If you already have a pixel installed on your website and you’ve run previous campaigns then skip to Step 2.

1. Go to Events Manager.
2. Click Connect Data Sources and select Web.

3. Select Meta Pixel and click Connect.
4. Add your Pixel Name.

5. Enter your website URL to check for easy setup options and click Check.

6. Choose “Conversions API Meta Pixel” OR “Meta Pixel only” and click Continue.

7. Once you’ve created your Meta Pixel, you’re ready to put the Pixel code on your website.

1. Manually add Pixel code to website
2. Use a partner integration
3. Email instructions

8. After you add the Meta Pixel base code to your website you can set up events to measure the actions you care about, like making a purchase.

Step 2: Develop Your Facebook Catalog Ad Set with Retargeting Ads

1. Go to Meta Ads Manager and create your Advantage+ catalog ad or open an existing one.
2. In your Ad set, find the Audience section and choose to Retarget ads to target people who interacted with your products on and off Facebook.
3. Select a retargeting option, update the corresponding number of days and choose the products to include.Note: If you choose Custom combination, you can specify what audience interactions to include or exclude. For example, you could include people who added products to their cart in the last 45 days and exclude people who purchased products in the last 45 days.

Step 3: Use Facebook Conversion Tracking to Measure Results

1. Create an Ads Manager account.
2. Run one or more Facebook Ad Campaigns.
3. Go back to your Ads Manager.
4. Select Campaigns, Ad Sets or Ads, depending on what you want to measure.
5. Select the Columns dropdown menu.
6. Select Customize Columns and select the boxes next to the actions that matter to you.
7. Click Apply and you’ll see these columns in the table.

Retargeting Platforms and Tools for Running Facebook Retargeting Ads

If you’re an eCommerce retailer looking to scale your retargeting campaigns, there are a variety of platforms that can help you streamline your advertising.
Here are some popular ones that larger retailers use to run their campaigns.

• ADRoll
  ADRoll allows you to use one platform to execute all of your retargeting campaigns but it also helps to streamline your marketing operations, identify and reach visitors, build brand awareness, gather insights, create ads that match your goals, and grow and scale.

• CRITEO
  Criteo Dynamic Retargeting can help you increase your campaign performance across platforms like Facebook and Instagram with their granular view of each shopper’s complete web journey and real-time purchase intent, from mobile and in-app to desktop.

• RTBHouse
  The RTB House engine identifies potential buyers and boosts performance using 1:1 personalized retargeting. Their engine boasts up to 50% more efficient than standard Machine Learning AI-based platforms.

Improve your Facebook Retargeting Ads and Ad Performance Over Time

The devil is in the details when it comes to increasing the performance of your Facebook Retargeting ads. If your previous campaign fell short of your marketing goals, get to the root of the problem to improve your ROI for next time.

To help you gain a better understanding of how to interpret your results, ask yourself these three questions

1. How did this campaign compare to previous campaigns?
   • Were there different products?
   • Was the time of year the same?
   • Were there similar promotions?
2. Did the ads have all of the correct product information displayed in an enticing format to encourage a purchase?
3. Did you have enough personalized audience data to retarget in a way that would achieve your goal, like converting users who abandoned their cart?

A lesser-known but extremely important question involves the quality and structure of the product data that impact the effectiveness of your ads.

When it comes to advertising your catalog in different countries with multiple catalogs, product information like price, sale price, currency, and language may be different in each country. Take these factors into consideration to develop a multi-country and multi-currency feed strategy based on the campaign’s target country.

Other factors that affect ad performance are the keywords and placement of product differentiators in areas like your product title and description. Optimizing these parts of your product feed allows you to position your products in the best possible way to your audience.

This is where Suvae.org’s technology can help. The platform optimizes the product data used in your Facebook catalog ads. Having better-optimized product data leads to better results from your retargeting ads.

Our SaaS platform connects directly with popular retargeting engines to run multi-channel product catalog ads that get seen by your intended customers. All you need to do is provide your product catalog, and our dedicated Customer Success Manager will take care of everything else to ultimately achieve your goals.

Discover how you can create powerful Retargeting Ads with Suvae.org.

The post Convert More Customers with Facebook Retargeting Ads appeared first on Suvae.org.

You could think of affiliate marketing as a way to introduce luxury goods to your ideal customers through some of the most stylish people and publishers they follow. This could include bloggers, online magazines, shopping comparison sites, review sites, and more.

According to the 2022 Affiliate Marketing Benchmark Report, interest in this tactic for growing an eCommerce business grew 300% between 2017 and 2021. On average, it represents 9% of marketing budgets and is set to grow into a $13 billion industry this year.

Given that more than 10,000 firms are offering or specializing in such services, however, we’re going to focus on the Awin affiliate program. In this post, we’ll show why this is an opportunity worth pursuing. But first, what is Awin? Read on to find out.

What Is Awin?

Formed in 2017 following a rebrand of affiliate marketing firms Zanox and Affiliate Window, Awin has grown into an organization employing more than 1,200 people who work in 17 offices around the world.

What is Awin, though? In a recent post on Forbes, the company’s CEO Adam Ross describes Awin as a provider of pay-per-performance advertising. Its Awin affiliate program offers a way to streamline the process of working with publishers and influencers who have an audience that aligns with a brand’s target clientele. It offers an income stream to those creating the content while providing fashion and other retailers with steady sales.

How does Awin work?

If you’re wondering, ‘How does Awin work,’ the program is consistent with many similar affiliate marketing services.

Awin acts as a liaison between brands and publishers or creators, placing links to their eCommerce store on pages with content that interests its most coveted shoppers.

Imagine a fashion blogger has posted a guide to finding the perfect designer belt, for example. When readers click through links via the Awin product feed about belts that interest them, Awin pays the blogger a commission on behalf of the retailer for referring the traffic.

The answer to “How does Awin work,” therefore, is that it allows brands a simple way to outsource tasks such as link placement, recording transaction data, and managing commissions.

Benefits of using Awin in your Affiliate Marketing Strategy

Affiliate marketing not only lets online sellers increase their visibility across international markets. It can also deepen relationships with partners that can drive greater marketing results.

Just look at Polish fashion retailer Born2Be. In its publication The Awin Report a few years ago, the company showed how Born2Be was able to offer different incentives for publishers and influencers. These included an “introducers” level for those who brought their audiences’ attention to its products, while “retainers” gave a higher commission to those who generated traffic to best sellers, seasonal offers, and high-margin products.

The result was a 70% increase in sales targets achieved and a new customer rate of 45%.

What is a product data feed and how do affiliates use them?

Your affiliate marketing strategy can begin by setting up a product data feed. Instead of manually setting up and configuring links to each of your products, for instance, a data feed automatically conveys details about product names, sizes, colors, prices, and other attributes to the publishers in the Awin affiliate program.

A data feed is essential to successful affiliate marketing because it ensures your stock and inventory information is up to date, and that you can accelerate the process of connecting with premium affiliate partners.

How to create an Awin product feed

The process of creating an Awin product feed will vary somewhat depending on whether you’re working with an existing Google data feed, or integrating with an eCommerce platform such as Shopify. Fortunately, the company has provided the basic steps for Awin product feed development to get potential brand partners up to speed.

Rather than tackle this all on your own, however, there are organizations like Suvae.org that can create and optimize Awin feeds that respond to specific business needs.

Affiliate marketing tools to help you win with Awin

A lack of experience in working with affiliate marketing services should never be a barrier to taking the next step.

Many brands gain greater confidence in moving forward with an opportunity like the Awin affiliate program by working with Suvae.org, for instance. Our product feed management solutions and industry expertise can provide value at every stage of the journey. This includes marketplace integration services, as well as guidance on strategies to help your products stand out and increase conversions among your most coveted shoppers.

In today’s economy, every online seller is looking for a win. You might be able to get one by exploring affiliate marketing with Awin.

Learn more about Suvae.org’s affiliate marketing service or reach out to us to get more information on how we can help you get started.

The post Awin Affiliate Program: Why eCommerce Brands Should Join appeared first on Suvae.org.

As the New York Times reported, Nordstrom saw a 152 percent increase in searches on its website for the term “workwear” in February 2022. Looking toward the Fall season, more employees are expected to return to work, and retailers look forward to a boost in back-to-office shopping items.

What does this mean for your brand? There’s an opportunity to rethink your consumer’s online shopping experience. The main considerations are your online presence and the positioning of your products. In this post, you’ll learn more about your customer’s back-to-office mindset, their changing shopping habits, tips on how to engage with them, and how product catalog optimization can help you reach maximum product exposure and connect you to the right customers.

Your Customer’s Mindset Going Back to The Office

In your customer’s mind, it’s time to look good and feel good at work. After two years of on and off lockdowns, employees returning to the office are searching for back-to-work clothing, and it’s expected that as more businesses bring back staff, the searches for office-related clothing and products will increase.

Google Trends reported that “business casual outfits” and “casual work outfits” searches hit an all-time high in the US back in March of 2022. But new online searches aren’t the only changes related to a workforce returning to the office.

What Changing Consumer Behavior Means for Retailers

There’s another behavior shift related to where and how people shop. The opportunity to shop online while commuting to and from work and buy in-store before work, at lunch, and after work.
How do you engage with your current customers and attract new ones as their spending patterns change?

Here are some tips:

• Integrate with new Online Marketplaces and market your products on shopping channels to be where your audience is
  Reach people browsing and searching for products by category, brand, and other factors.

• Promote products in your physical stores to capitalize on in-store shopping trends
  Use Google Local inventory ads to attract local buyers and advertise products based on audience location.

• Build better customer experiences on social media
  Integrate your products with Social Commerce Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok. The more seamless your customer’s shopping experience, the more chance they’ll come back and buy more.

Attract More Customers, Wherever They Are

The saying “The one thing you can count on is change.” is the reality retailers are accustomed to. This is why having a solution to adapt to your customer’s shifting lifestyle is so important.

A popular method for keeping your inventory responsive to these market changes is Product Catalog Optimization. It’s the technical process of optimizing the product data in your catalog to help online shoppers find your products, make an informed buying decision, and provide a better shopping experience with your brand.

Think of how a supermarket continually merchandises its stock based on consumer demand, seasonal items, and promotions. The same result occurs when retailers use product catalog optimization to attract customers to their products everywhere they’re spending time online.

The New Omnichannel Commerce Strategy

Your catalog optimization doesn’t end with the products sold on your website. Whether you’re a retailer focused on selling in a local area or a global brand selling in multiple countries, your product data needs to be structured properly and updated frequently on every commerce channel. This practice is a core success factor of an omnichannel commerce strategy.

Commerce channels like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Google Shopping, Amazon, eBay, and Rakuten need dedicated and optimized product feeds.

Product Catalog Optimization Made Easy

Adapting to your customer’s changing shopping behaviors and adopting new commerce channels is part of a retailer’s job, but a lack of experienced resources and specialized techniques can be a roadblock.
This is where a highly technical product feed management service can help. Solutions like Suvae.org help you optimize your catalog and product data for every channel your products are listed.

Some benefits include:

• Boosting your eCommerce and local inventory ad sales by quickly and effectively updating your product pricing and inventory on all channels with specialized delta feeds
• Reaching more customers on marketplaces by using our experienced integration team to handle your marketplace integrations
• Increasing conversions on social commerce platforms by showcasing highly detailed product information using a managed service to handle every platform’s requirements

To easily promote and sell your products on multiple global channels, a product feed management and marketplace integration service specializing in a high level of data consultancy can help. This partner skill set is even more valuable to optimize your products and get them on the right marketplaces and shopping channels on time.

Learn more about how to use product catalog optimization to compete in an ever-changing market from real-world case studies.

The post Product Catalog Optimization for Changing Shopping Behavior appeared first on Suvae.org.

The challenges with attributing tangible results to their efforts are just one of the reasons CMOs and their teams are increasingly turning to performance-based marketing as an alternative.

What is Performance-based Marketing?

As the name suggests, performance-based marketing service providers are only compensated based on established metrics, such as cost per click (CPC), pay per click (PPC), or cost per thousand (CPM) impressions. Performance marketing also makes sense as more brands make use of digital channels that offer greater visibility into consumer behavior during a campaign. Activity can not only be tracked across a brand’s website but social channels, third-party publishers, and other online properties.

5 Tips to make the most of Performance-based Marketing

While performance marketing strategies will need to vary depending on a particular brand’s objectives, here are a few principles to keep in mind to position yourself for greater success:

1. Diversify storytelling approaches to drive visibility and engagement

Consumers can get fatigued by intrusive advertising, to the point of ignoring or avoiding them altogether. One way to mitigate that risk is by developing ads and other performance marketing creative materials in multiple formats. Digital ads with high-impact visuals might always be a standard part of your campaigns, for example, but don’t stop there. Work internally or with agency partners to create mobile-first designs, video-oriented stores, and even audio formats that could be used in podcasts.

2. Align affiliate relationships with partners that reflect your audience’s interests

Publishers have increasingly become a valuable part of the performance marketing ecosystem given the credibility, trust, and reach they have to large audiences. These media sites have a vested interest in monetizing their traffic through affiliate relationships that compensate them every time someone clicks through a mention of a brand in their content.

Before allocating the majority of your budget to general-interest publishers, however, consider niche sites or even blogs that have a proven track record with your specific customer segments. Luxury brands, for instance, might gain traction faster with a more fashion-oriented publisher whose content is more clearly aimed at its target persona. Ask about any contextual targeting you can do based on the data a publishing partner has at its disposal.

3. Set clear expectations around marketing performance activities

Paid social advertising is another popular performance marketing tactic, but it also offers a case in point of where it can go wrong. Consumers might press a “like” button on a paid social post, for instance. They might comment on the ad, or even share it with their followers. There can be large numbers attached to these activities, but they won’t constitute “performance” for many brands.
E-commerce checkouts or even completed contact forms might represent far greater value for many marketers. This needs to be clarified at the outset of partnerships and campaigns.

4. Harness the power of data and product feeds to attract VIP customers

Plenty of men might shop for designer dress shoes when they have a special occasion like a wedding, but those working in executive roles might need to buy them more often — and be willing to pay for higher quality. The only way to truly compel your VIP customers to click through is by ensuring you build your campaign based on quality data and take advantage of a product feed management platform that can display your content in all the right channels.

Product feed management tools add a layer of intelligence to performance-based marketing by tying directly back to your internal analytics. This means whether you’re focusing on SEM, social media, or retargeting, you’ll be able to properly assess campaign effectiveness.

5. Evaluate, iterate, optimize, repeat!

Performance marketing isn’t just a way of holding your partners more accountable. It should also provide opportunities for greater testing and ongoing adaptation of your marketing content over time. Depending on the early results you see, for instance, consider the changes you might want to make in terms of your key messages, special offers, or where you’re targeting the content. Conduct A/B tests with a segment of your budget to see if one approach will work better than another.

Bonus tip: Find a product feed partner to maximize performance marketing ROI

To make your performance marketing successful, you’re also going to have some technical pieces in place. These include setting up tracking for data feeds, online ads, affiliate programs, retargeting, and more. Having accurate high-quality data can help you better promote your products. Suvae.org specializes in performance marketing feeds and offers you optimized product data to ensure strong sales results.

Your performance-based marketing efforts can have a major impact on your bottom line. No matter the channels or the partners you turn to, make sure your brand is ready to perform at its best.
Get the most out of your budget and ad campaigns. Talk to our experts for a free consultation.

The post Performance Based Marketing: Your Path To Higher Conversions appeared first on Suvae.org.

Today, eCommerce affiliate marketing is integral to the success of a brand’s digital marketing strategy. By integrating with the right programs and networks, you can advertise your products through posts that show everything from basic product information to more in-depth content like product demonstrations, personal testimonials, and strong calls to action.

Some of the Benefits of Affiliate Marketing Programs include:

• Generating additional revenue
• Establishing partnerships with influencers in the market
• Increasing your brand’s reach online

Keep reading to learn how eCommerce affiliate marketing has changed over the years, what affiliate networks and programs are available for the fashion industry, and how providing high-quality product information to your affiliates can boost your products’ discoverability.

How eCommerce Affiliate Marketing Has Changed

Since the advent of the internet, businesses have found ways to advertise online. While many saw the potential of affiliate marketing, it took some time for the practice to pick up steam over the years.

Here are a few of the trends that have molded this advertising option into today’s promotional powerhouse:

• The rise of social media: In the early stage of social media, back in the 2000s, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram had just started to become popular.
  As a result, affiliate programs rarely considered them and instead looked to websites and blogs.
  Today, some affiliates operate exclusively through networks like Instagram, Pinterest, and others. Content creators have also entered the scene, monetizing their popularity and traffic creatively.
  With almost three-quarters of social networking users entrusting their purchasing decisions to their platforms of choice, it’s clear why social media is such a powerful marketing channel today.

• Mobile marketing hit the scene: Back when flip phones and Blackberries with keyboards were popular, marketing through mobile devices hardly existed.
  Nowadays, it would be unthinkable to start an affiliate program without focusing on smart devices because of the shift from desktop to mobile content consumption.
  According to Statista’s Digital Market Outlook, mobile will account for 50 percent of ad spending by 2021 and finally surpass desktop in 2022.

• A focus on quality over quantity: In the 2000s and early 2010s, businesses aimed to make their affiliate programs as large as possible to cast the widest net of exposure.
  Once advertisers understood how affiliate systems worked, they became more interested in carefully selecting the best quality affiliates, giving them the right resources and support to be true business partners.

• Trust has gone up: Affiliate programs and networks were focused more on getting as many referral fees as possible before the late 2010s. They joined multiple programs and often made poor attempts at attaching to any one brand.
  Today, trust is the theme, and advertisers want the affiliate program to align with their brand’s strategy.

Now that you’ve learned about eCommerce affiliate marketing, how do advertisers use networks and programs to drive brand awareness and generate revenue?

How Affiliate Programs Work

Affiliation programs involve partnerships between an advertiser and one or more affiliates.
The advertiser signs a contract with an individual affiliate or a network of affiliates to promote their products or services for a commission. Everything from a direct sale to new sign-ups for a free trial is tracked so the advertiser can understand how their ads are performing

A typical program follows these steps:

1. The business places an advertisement on the affiliate’s blog, website, or social networking page. A unique link helps track which affiliates are contributing to which visitors.
2. When a customer clicks on the link and makes a purchase, the affiliate network records the transaction details.
3. The business pays the affiliate the commission for those sales. It adds up to what is a profit-sharing mechanism.

Examples of eCommerce Affiliate Marketing Programs for the Fashion Industry

Affiliate programs help many industries effectively manage their digital advertising programs, especially in the fashion sector.
Some popular fashion affiliate marketing programs offer enticing advertising opportunities for brands.

• Nordstrom: This retailer is one of the world’s most well-known brands with its affiliate network. Nordstrom has a reputation for providing high-end clothing worldwide, from shoes to jewelry.
  Nordstrom has a negotiable commission rate that can change based on your needs and circumstances.
• Urban Outfitters: Urban Outfitters operates throughout the U.S. and much of Europe, providing quality yet affordable men’s and women’s clothing from various well-known brands.
  Urban Outfitters commission rates start at 2%.
• Zappos: Ever since Amazon acquired the company back in 2009, Zappos has risen from its humble beginnings as a shoe store to becoming a well-known name in the general fashion market.
  Zappos is known for commission rates of 7 to 10% per sale, and its free shipping and return policy minimizes friction during the purchasing process.

And we’re just scratching the surface. There are many other affiliate programs specific to the fashion industry.

About eCommerce Affiliate Networks

An affiliate network is a medium in which affiliates and advertisers find each other and organize business arrangements.
Advertisers add their affiliate programs to the network, which affiliates themselves browse through to find new products and services to promote.

Examples of active affiliate networks include companies like Adtraction, Commission Junction, Awin, Daisycon, TradeDoubler, MaxBounty, Rakuten, VigLink, and many more.
Some offer global exposure, while others focus on smaller regions that may include one or more countries.

Why Partner With Affiliate Marketing Networks

As an advertiser, you can find and contact individual affiliate partners directly or work with a network that has multiple affiliates under one platform.
However, the process of identifying affiliates/publishers and negotiating an affiliate agreement can be long and complex. And that is why affiliate networks have been picking up in popularity in recent years.

Working with affiliates can help you :

• Streamline administrative work
  A network can handle commission payments for you and manage accounts to provide daily insights and reporting features.
  Individual programs require plenty of tools and practices, from account management to link tracking to payment options.

• Measure Performance
  You want to make sure your ROI is substantial. Some networks have easy-to-use dashboards to manage all your programs and track clicks and conversions in one place.
  See which of your marketing techniques is working out the best to make more informed business decisions in the future.

• Quality control
  Affiliates typically must go through a screening process to join a network. Whenever you search for the next suitable candidate, all your options will be compliant and trustworthy.
  Those who show dishonest behavior are removed before joining any more programs.

How Do You Choose the Right Affiliate Network

There are many networks out there, and selecting one to operate in can be a daunting task. Here are a few questions to ask yourself when choosing your ideal network:

• What networks in your industry using?

  Look to your competitors and see which networks they use and which ones seem to be the most successful for them. If you’re in fashion, you want to use networks that are fashion-focused.
  Keeping track of your competition can help you fine-tune your digital strategy.

• How will you budget the network?

  Networks bill for services in different ways, such as monthly fees and initial setup costs. Larger networks might bill based on sales volume generated from your campaigns.
  Your accounting team will be pleased you considered these details when setting up your campaign strategy.

• What features and services do you need?

  Look at what affiliate tracking features offer support for international markets and the level of customer support you expect.
  Streamlining your tracking with the right support can reduce time spent on reporting.

When it comes to choosing the right affiliate for your business, your choice of network isn’t the only consideration.
One common mistake advertisers make when developing their brand affiliate programs is not providing the networks with the most up-to-date and complete set of product information for campaign success.

How To Maximize Your Advertising Results

Advertisers use data feeds to better promote their products on affiliate networks or specific programs.
Basic product listing data includes:

• Product descriptions and identifiers
• Technical specifications
• Pictures
• Pricing
• Keywords
• Product categories
• Landing page links

A high-quality feed is necessary to optimize your product data to boost the performance of your ads. To enhance the success of your promotions include as much information as possible.
Keep all data up-to-date, including pricing and stock levels. And be sure to remove duplicate or out-of-stock items from the list — it’s a frustrating customer experience to click on a call-to-action, only to end up on a dead link or out-of-stock product.

Simplify eCommerce Affiliate Marketing with a Data Feed Software

To ensure that your affiliate data feeds are up to the task, data feed management software can help you develop well-structured feeds to better boost your marketing campaigns.
Suvae.org’s solution effectively synchronizes your product information and prices with real-time APIs through efficient integration with eCommerce platforms like Shopify and Salesforce.

Reach out to our affiliate product feed specialist to discover better ways to market your products stand out and reach your marketing goals.

The post What You Need to Succeed in eCommerce Affiliate Marketing appeared first on Suvae.org.

There are specialized networks that only serve Europe and others that are global with local affiliate partners. Depending on your business you’ll need to look at each network to see which one works with your marketing and sales objectives. This post provides a quick explanation of affiliate marketing, a list of affiliate networks operating in Europe, and when you should consider a product feed for affiliate network partners.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing involves paying a commission to affiliates on sales made to customers that have been directed to your site from the affiliate’s website. Because you only pay when a sale is made, you are guaranteed a return on your investment.

For those of you who are new to affiliate marketing, this video from Neil Patel explains the basics.

How to choose an Affiliate Network

Affiliate networks provide the infrastructure for affiliates (or publishers) to get in contact with advertisers (online merchants). These networks also provide tracking technology that tells advertisers which publishers made the sale so they can be duly rewarded. Many networks even offer services to help advertisers manage their affiliate programs.

Choosing the right network can be a difficult decision. Many factors like which industries they focus on, the affiliates included in their network and who their audiences are, the commission, how and when you get paid as a seller, and how easy it is as an advertiser to promote your products. In many cases, you need to check out reviews, talk to other businesses that have used the affiliate network, or test the network out for yourself.

European Affiliate Networks

Europe is a fragmented market with numerous languages and currencies. Some networks focus on only a few countries whereas others have a broader reach. It’s important to know if the affiliate network you choose has a comprehensive knowledge of the markets you want to target to better attract your ideal customers.

Check out the list below and find the affiliate networks that best suit your business.

Rakuten Advertising

Reach: Europe and around the globe

Enjoy Rakuten’s massive reach of over 150,000 active publishers worldwide, with a dedicated team of network development specialists who actively identify affiliates and partner opportunities across content, influencer, loyalty, and more. Rakuten has high standards for its affiliate partners and this translates into a quality audience for advertisers to attract the right customers. They are constantly monitored to ensure that the network’s rules are being followed and the content created is always good quality.

Daisycon

Reach: Europe & North America

Based on reviews of the network, Daisycon’s customers enjoy service driven-support, fast and easy payment options, and real-time statistics for their campaigns. They are one of the biggest affiliate networks in Europe with a network of more than 30,000 active websites and a vast social and mobile reach. At Daisycon you will find a wide range of campaigns within CPS, CPL, CPA, and CPC.

AWIN

Reach: Europe & North America

AWIN offer’s customers a good user experience with their easy-to-use affiliate dashboard and if you get stuck, their Wiki is a great resource for finding answers. They have many publishers to choose from and their customer support team is responsive. They primarily focus on Insurance & Finance, Retail/Shopping, Telco & Services, and Travel industries. Advertisers looking to attract customers in these industries can benefit from their expertise in these verticals.

Yieldkit

Reach: Europe & North America

Yieldkit offers a range of cutting-edge, API-based solutions to help larger publishers monetize website content and customized solutions for advertisers to increase awareness and sales. Matching occurs through Yieldkit’s machine learning technology. It analyzes publishers’ text-based content and brings together certain terms and keywords approved by the publisher with matching e-commerce offers and services from advertisers. Publishers can additionally monetize their content and advertisers have access to a high-performance in-text advertising format. They have over 5,000 publishers with 72 networks and 50,000 advertisers in more than 160 countries.

Tracdelight

Reach: Europe

Tracdelight’s publisher team has a personal line with important influencers as well as the largest magazines. They provide target group-based product recommendations and can plan targeted content campaigns. Tracdelight’s goal is to connect premium online shops & brands with first-class publishers. Their focus is on fashion, beauty, living, food, and sports.

Tradedoubler

Reach: Western/Eastern Europe & Brazil

Tradedoubler has positive reviews in the areas of customer support, data import/export features, and their analytics platform. It features an industry-leading affiliate marketing network, white-label management solution, Metapic, full-service programmatic solutions, campaign management, reliable tracking and payments, a reward platform, in-house expertise, robust tools, and reporting. As one of the leading affiliate networks in Europe, they serve merchants from a broad range of verticals across the continent. It has recently expanded its operations to include Brazil.

CJ

Reach: Europe &, North America

Get up and running quickly with CJ’s Shopify and Magento eCommerce plugins. They are known for their wide variety of integrations that enables tracking of the customer journey from start to finish. Formerly Commission Junction, CJ is a global affiliate network provider with operations on all continents. CJ’s impressive roster of advertisers includes companies from a comprehensive range of industry verticals. They offer a service called “real-time transaction monitoring”. The platform helps publishers and advertisers track their sales instantly and accurately.

Webgains

Reach: Western Europe & North America

Webgains’ cutting-edge technology helps advertisers at the point of conversion to take action and ensure their target audience gets the product or service into their basket with the knowledge that they made the right decision. With a focus on customer service, Webgains currently caters to clients from a broad range of verticals including fashion, home and garden, travel, online games, sports, and other retail merchants. They have over 20,000 websites as part of their affiliate network with a strong capability in promoting subject matter experts in various industries.

Partnerize

Reach: Europe and around the globe

Partnerizer’s major differentiator is their unrivaled service including the category’s only in-house support program. With Partnerize, you’re in control of the entire partnership marketing lifecycle – all on a single platform. Positioned as a premium affiliate network service provider, the Performance Horizon Group is globally focused offering targeted solutions for enterprise-level brands that sell across international borders. They deliver a fully integrated, comprehensive suite of discovery, recruitment, optimization, payment, brand safety, and fraud prevention capabilities.

Effiliation

Reach: – Western Europe & Brazil

Effiliation defines a personalized strategy for each of its clients according to their objectives, sector of activity, size, etc. A French-based network, they have successfully expanded into the major Western European markets such as Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and the Benelux nations as well as Brazil. Effiliation currently has accounts covering a broad range of verticals.

TimeOne

Reach – Western Europe & Brazil

TimeOne is a French-based network that has successfully expanded into Western Europe and Brazil (and South Africa). Reach your advertising goals by leveraging TimeOne’s 60,000 publishers and work with your dedicated account manager to fine-tune your campaigns. They have experience in the following verticals: Travel/Leisure, Shopping, Banking/Insurance/Finance, Health/Beauty, Dating, Consumer Goods, Cars, Telephony, and Services.

MoreNiche

Reach: Europe, US & UK

MoreNiche focuses on a narrow range of verticals with advertisers that are willing to pay high commissions (around 30-50% of the sale value) to their affiliates. Verticals covered include Health, Nutrition, Beauty, and Weight loss. MoreNiche has offices in the UK and US and serves some non-English speaking European countries including Germany, Russia, and France. Review benefits include this affiliate network’s focus on community, their forum, and their customer support.

Optimise

Reach: Europe & Asia Pacific

Concentrating on its expertise in the Travel, Finance, Utilities, and Telecomms verticals, Optimise provides coverage of Europe as well as the emerging markets of the Asia-Pacific, India, and Brazil. Benefits from their website include things like a user-friendly dashboard to see your sales and commissions in real-time, detailed feedback from analytics experts and some of the most competitive commission rates in the market.

DoAffiliate.net

Reach: Eastern Europe and Spain

One of the leading Affiliate Networks in Eastern Europe, working in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Georgia, and other countries. Their main verticals are finance, payday loans, insurance offers, etc. On their website, they highlight their ability to track individual registration of clicks allowing you to analyze the source, IP address, and time of registration to prevent fraud and the ability to track each transaction.

When Do You Need an Affiliate Product Feed?

A successful affiliate marketing program starts with getting the right data to your affiliate partners. Affiliate product feeds allow you to advertise your products on affiliate partner websites in a structured manner that is optimized for the particular network. You need a high-quality and frequently updated product feed to get the right price, inventory, and product information to your affiliate network so that it is approved and meets the affiliate channel requirements.

A Product Feed Management partner can help you by creating, maintaining, and managing the product data feeds of your chosen affiliate networks. Let us help you by optimizing and automating your product data feeds, so you can focus on other important things for your business. Get in touch with Suvae.org Team for more details.

The post Affiliate Networks in Europe to Scale-Up Your Traffic and Sales appeared first on Suvae.org.

On these platforms, the image is the largest part of the ad and the first impression users see before the title text and price tag. In some cases, eCommerce merchants take the product images from their website and re-use them for advertising purposes. This approach isn’t ideal because each ad type and platform have different image requirements.

In this post, you’ll learn how sizing file type, URLs, background, text, color, and many other factors play an important part in getting your ad images approved.
Also, you’ll have tips on how to troubleshoot disapproved images to get your campaigns back up and running, by improving your Facebook and Google Ads image optimization to get more converting customers.

Google Shopping Image Requirements & Optimization Tips For GMC Approval

Many advertising platforms have requirements. Google Merchant Center has especially complex and frustrating rules to deal with that constantly keep changing.
Each product you advertise has to abide by strict product data guidelines related to its structure and content within your product feed.

Image requirements are fairly straight forward but failing to comply leads to an automatic error on your account until the problem is fixed.
On the bright side, the image requirement documentation is very detailed and easy to follow, as noted below:

Google Shopping Image Requirements

• Clutter: Keep your images clean. If there’s too much going on, it can be difficult to determine what you’re trying to buy. The same rule applies to watermarks.
• Crawling: Images must be crawled fully before the product can be approved. The server may take extra time to finish this process, or certain images can take a few days to finish crawling.
• Format: Google accepts several different image formats: JPEG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, and non-animated GIFs.
• Placeholders: Placeholder images are banned unless you are selling paint (where single-color pictures are allowed) or when selling hardware or vehicle parts (where illustrations can be used).
• Size: The minimum size is 100 x 100 pixels, though apparel listings must be at least 250 x 250. The maximum size is 64 megapixels in both cases, and overall the image file itself must not be larger than 16 MB.
• Text: Google bans the addition of overlay text on images, as any text belongs in the description.
• URL: The Google algorithm requires a certain structure for image URLs. They have to link to the primary image of the listing, start with “HTTP” or “HTTPS,” and comply with RFC 2396 or RFC 1738 guidelines. For instance, quotation marks become “%22” and spaces would render out as “%20.” Broken links are not permitted.

Remember: the image must accurately portray what you’re selling. Inaccurate or generic images are frustrating to consumers and mess up Google’s algorithm.
To further improve the performance of your shopping campaigns, check out the full list of Google Shopping ads image requirements.

To convert more customers and divert attention away from competitors, you need to optimize the images you use. Here are a few actionable tips to help attract more shoppers:

Google Shopping Image Optimizations

• Make sure visitors know exactly what you’re trying to sell
  Use high-quality images at decently high resolutions with good lighting. Move the camera at multiple angles.
  Make sure the pictures are accurate to the actual product so that they match the color, dimensions, and other attributes.
• Don’t be afraid to post more than one image
  Whether it’s at a different zoom level or camera angle, it’s more appealing to be able to see the item from multiple images.
• Use the power of editing
  Some image editing programs are available to help touch up your pictures before posting them online.
  Experiment with different effects and backgrounds, but don’t overdo it. Remember: you don’t want to divert attention away from the product itself.
• Show the product in use
  For certain categories of products like clothing, show off a model wearing the item outdoors or in another way.
• Test your results regularly
  A/B testing is a valuable asset in web design, and selling online is no exception. Regular testing ensures that you will find the ideal images to post on your Google Shopping account.

Note: Some of these tips aren’t necessarily required by Google, but they can still help give that extra push needed to attract visitors and improve conversions.

Google Shopping Images are not displaying: How to Fix Them

What happens when some of your images are disapproved or not displaying? Take a moment to review the guidelines and remember to:

• Find out why you’ve been disproved: The site will often give you a reason as to why the approval was rejected so that your business can fix the issue.
• Make a checklist: It should show the requirements pointed out earlier and go through the list to see whether any rules have been broken.
• Use automatic improvements: Google offers an automatic image checker to fix and replace certain pictures.
• Request a manual review if you are unable to find the problem yourself. Google Shopping has this feature in some cases but uses it sparingly as it takes up to 7 days.

There are so many factors that can cause disapproval, and it can be frustrating and challenging to diagnose every issue.
Consulting with a feed management partner can help you with image optimizations or any other aspect of listing your products on Google Shopping.

Dynamic Product Ads Image Requirements & Optimizations

Facebook Dynamic Product Ads appear either in the feed itself, in the right column, or in the marketplace. These three locations have different image requirements related to the number of images required, sizing and ratio. The optimizations for your images can also be affected by the location and ad type but there are also more general optimizations you can make to improve CTR.

Find out what Facebook Ads image requirements you need to optimize your images for better campaign performance:

Dynamic Product Ads Image Requirements

• Carousel ads: This setup requires at least two images and at most 5 on desktop and 30 on mobile. Images must be square and be a minimum of 400 x 400 with 500 x 500 as the standard recommendation.
• Collections: The image must be in a 1.91:1 ratio, and a size of 1200 x 628 is recommended.
• Image size: Single image ads must have a ratio of 1.91:1. Size must be at least 400 x 400 pixels, but 500 x 500 is recommended.

For the text in the Ad’s copy, use the following suggested numbers:

• Text: 125 characters for a single image or a carousel and 90 for a collection.
• Headline: 25 characters for a single image, 40 for a carousel, and 25 for a collection.
• Description: 30 characters for a single image and 20 for a carousel.

In addition to these technical requirements, here are some best practices you can follow to better optimize your images.

Dynamic Product Ads Image Optimizations

• Use images with a white backdrop: You want your products to stand out in the ad.
• Add multiple images of the product: If you plan to run carousel ads with the slideshow option or to sell the product in your shop Facebook recommends four or more images.
• Include a mix of images: Show the product from different angles, including close-ups of texture or details.
• Don’t include text that overlays the product, calls to action, promo codes, watermarks, or time-sensitive information like temporary price drops.
• Match the product images for the same product on your website.
• Form a color contrast: Facebook’s theme colors are blue and white. Choose contrasting colors to make your advertisement “pop” and stand out.
• Touch up everything: Whether it’s better lighting, more angles, or some editing tweaks in the post, take the time to make your images attractive. Take more pictures than you need initially so that you have plenty of material to work with.
• Don’t be afraid to see what competitors are doing: Are you stuck or have creative writer’s block? Do some research on what everyone else is doing. Don’t copy everything, but give yourself some ideas on which to base your business decisions.

Does it all sound too time-consuming for you? Getting the most out of Facebook marketing requires putting in the time.
However, similar to Google Shopping ads, there are automated product feed tools that can streamline these processes for you.

Troubleshoot Missing or Invalid Images

Troubleshooting Facebook Dynamic Product Ads, especially if you have a large catalog, can be extremely labor-intensive.
Facebook notifies you of issues with the ads in their Ads Manager under the Delivery column but it’s not always evident what the reason is for the disapproval.

An amber triangle denotes a warning, whereas a red one denotes an error. Errors need to be fixed immediately as they may be preventing your products from being approved. On the other hand, warnings need to be taken seriously too, as they can quickly turn into errors depending on what the issue is.

Here is how to fix common errors that can occur within Facebook Dynamic Product Ads:

Invalid Images
Pictures are commonly the culprit in the Facebook marketplace. Much like with Google Shopping images, check the size, dimensions, format, and URL of each picture. Ensure that the Facebook Crawler can properly scan through your pictures.

Inactive Products
Some items may be marked as “archived,” “out of stock,” or “expired.” Make sure all items are active (which may take up to 48 hours to reflect in the live site) and available.

Against Facebook TOS
Double-check the advertising policies on Facebook. Rejected items can be found on your Commerce Manager, where you can also find tips on how to repost the listings. Sellers also have the option to request an official review from Facebook staff.

How to Streamline Your Google and Facebook Ad Campaigns

No matter where you choose to sell—Facebook, Google, or some combination of both—getting the details right is essential if you want to maximize your chance of converting customers.

A Product Feed Management Solution designed specifically for shopping campaigns on Facebook and Google can help you expand your product sales with the help of a managed service and centralized dashboard for all of your advertising channels.

Find out why top brands like Vans, The North Face, Falconeri, Signorvino, and Prada trust us to optimize and manage their online shopping feeds. Book a demo of Highstret.io SaaS platform and get the help you need with  Image Optimization for better Campaigns on Google Shopping and Facebook.

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