Sophie Neary is a managing director at Google, covering retail and consumer goods. She is a top influencer on LinkedIn and a highly experienced thought leader in retail and digital transformation, having previously worked at large brands including Meta, Boots, and Tesco.
I’m not going to sugar-coat this: it’s tough to be a retailer right now.
If you’re reading this, I know you’re feeling it.
The challenges across the U.K. and Europe are immense and intense:
- The IMF just downgraded its global economic growth forecast to 2.8% for 2025. That’s well below the historical average of 3.7% growth between 2000 to 2019.
- U.K. consumer confidence plunged in April to the lowest level in well over a year, according to the latest reading from GfK.
For marketers operating amidst this crisis of consumer confidence, it’s crucial to make every view, click, and touchpoint count.
The name of the game: drive conversions and deliver ROI.
I’ve worked with colleagues across Google to try to help. We’ve compiled a list of short-term wins to help marketers get results in a matter of days or weeks. Let’s dig in:
Quick win 1: Cut straight to the ker-ching with better app integration
It's common sense by now: people who have downloaded your app tend to be better customers. They're the ones speeding through that digital checkout. Ker-ching!
But too often, we see digital ad campaigns direct throngs of loyal app-wielding customers to a mobile website instead of an app. That's not the experience you want to provide.
To fix this: set up Web to App Connect within your Google Ads account. This is the first step to ensure that customers who already have your app will land on the most relevant in-app content after clicking your ads.
On average, Web to App Connect delivers a 2X higher conversion rate for clicks that land in-app versus a mobile website.
Online fashion retailer Boohoo used to have digital campaigns that drove all users to its website, resulting in a suboptimal experience for app users. Then the team began using Web to App Connect and — boom — Boohoo said the change drove a stellar 75% ROI increase.
Quick win 2: Learn from your rivals with benchmarking
Don't operate in a vacuum. Find out how you compare to your competitors.
Benchmarking can unlock instant insights. If you’re already using Google Analytics 4 (GA4), all you need to do is switch on the new benchmarking feature to discover immediate insights into your performance versus industry peers.
Benchmarking lets you quickly identify your company’s relative strengths and spot where your business may be falling short. You can also see where you’re outperforming and double down your efforts to drive even bigger results.
For example, a London-based clothing retailer using GA4 benchmarking could spot within moments that they were underperforming on add-to-cart rates. That simple insight can prompt a redesign of the product web pages and a reworking of CTAs to improve conversion potential.
Here’s my colleague Matt Landers with more details and examples:
Quick win 3: Make spending simple with Autofill
Not using Chrome Autofill? Start — now.
Autofill lets shoppers fill out a form with a single click, taking the friction out of checkout and making account set-up simple. It also helps reduce errors, like typos.
Customers who don’t waste time form-filling are more likely to buy
Recent Google research covering thousands of popular websites shows that enabling Chrome Autofill can be a game changer for online retailers — and for shoppers. The average website saw a 75% reduction in form abandonment when visitors used autofill.
E-commerce platform Shopify found that checkouts using autofill had a 45% higher checkout conversion rate than guest checkouts without autofill.
It all boils down to something very simple: customers who don’t waste time form-filling are more likely to buy.
I believe Chrome Autofill is one of the easiest ways to reduce friction for your customers, especially on mobile, where conversion rates are just 50% that of desktop.
Quick win 4: Grow faster with expert help from partners
For retailers in need of guidance, it can be difficult to find the right, trusted agency. Thankfully, Google has a team that vets agencies to ensure they have the right skills to help your business grow.
Check out this full network of pre-vetted agency partners. It’s your one-stop shop for specialists who cover everything, from analytics and testing to keyword strategy and creative design.
Quick win 5: Let AI do the legwork
Another fast fix for your retail reset is undoubtedly AI.
From suggesting SEO tweaks to updating product descriptions and localising content, Google’s Gemini AI can make easy work of routine tasks.
With the right prompts, Gemini can even give retail marketers feedback on their video ad creative.
Once those quick wins are in the bag, there are plenty more opportunities out there. Research from Vogue Business shows that using generative AI tools to create personalised deals, offers, and recommendations on products has a positive impact on fashion consumers’ purchase motivations. More than 3 in 10 consumers are willing to spend up to 20% more for a brand that does this.
For a bit more inspiration:
- U.K. retailer Dunelm used AI-powered product discovery to help customers find products faster.
- Victoria’s Secret employed visual Search to help shoppers by letting them scan any garment to find similar items online.
Don’t delay your retail reset
Retail has always been a game of margins. It’s also a game of speed.
These quick wins offer a path to measurable growth in 2025, and beyond, and build a robust foundation for sustained success.
