A Method to Help Brands Unify Online and Offline Sales with Google Ads

The retail landscape is no longer divided into neat online and offline silos. Today, 88% of retail sales in Australia occur in physical stores, yet 70% of shoppers use their phones for research while standing in those very stores. This blurring of channels means consumers are simultaneously streaming, scrolling, searching, and shopping—making their journeys inherently omnichannel. Google’s Consumer Behavior Pulse research with Kantar reveals that 52% of purchases now involve multiple touchpoints, with only 12% occurring purely offline.

For marketers, this complexity demands strategies that unify digital and physical experiences. Google Ads emerges as the critical tool to bridge this gap, leveraging AI, real-time inventory data, and cross-channel measurement to drive conversions. This article explores how brands can harness these tools to build confidence, maximize ROI, and future-proof their omnichannel strategies.

I. The Omnichannel Consumer Journey

1. The Rise of Hybrid Shopping Behaviors

Modern consumers seamlessly blend digital and physical touchpoints, creating a fragmented yet interconnected journey. While 88% of retail sales in Australia still occur in-store, 70% of shoppers rely on mobile devices for real-time research during their visits. Google Ads plays a pivotal role in bridging these behaviors:

• Search as the Starting Point: 86% of Gen Z Australians initiate shopping journeys on Google, leveraging its discovery-to-purchase capabilities. Google’s data reveals search influence doubles the impact of traditional promotions in driving foot traffic, making search ad campaigns (e.g., keyword-targeted Shopping Ads) essential for capturing early intent.
• In-Store Digital Integration: 62% of shoppers prioritize real-time inventory visibility to avoid stockouts. Google’s Local Inventory Ads (LIAs) address this by syncing with POS systems to display live stock levels, directly reducing friction for click-and-collect (18% of purchases) and omnichannel buyers.

The payoff is clear: Omnichannel shoppers, nurtured through Google Advertising’ cross-channel tools, spend 1.4X more and exhibit 18X higher brand advocacy, proving unified experiences drive profitability.

2. Confidence as the Ultimate Conversion Driver

Purchase certainty directly correlates with customer lifetime value, and Google’s AI-powered tools are engineered to deliver it:

• AI-Powered Discovery: Google Lens (20B monthly visual searches) and AI Overviews streamline product research, with 25% of visual searches signaling commercial intent. These tools, integrated into Google Ads campaigns, reduce decision paralysis by surfacing contextual product details.
• YouTube’s Trust Advantage: As the top platform for authentic reviews, YouTube—when paired with Google Advertising’ video campaigns—converts Gen Z’s inspiration into action. Brands using YouTube ads* with shoppable features see higher conversion rates by aligning reviews with seamless purchase pathways.

II. Google Ads Tools for Omnichannel Success

1. Performance Max for Store Goals

This AI-driven campaign type optimizes both online and offline conversions by:

• Targeting Nearby Shoppers: Using location data to drive foot traffic. Pandora saw a 21% ROAS lift and 17% store revenue growth by integrating Performance Max with LIAs.
• Automating Creative Adaptation: Generative AI (e.g., Gemini) tailors ad assets (images, text) to local inventory and trends.

2. Local Inventory Ads & Smart Bidding

• Real-Time Stock Updates: LIAs sync with POS systems to show in-store availability, reducing abandoned carts.
• Store Visit Measurement: Google’s proprietary tools track offline conversions, attributing store sales to digital campaigns. For example, 41% of Pandora’s Shopping conversions originated online but closed in-store.

III. AI & First-Party Data: The Future of Omnichannel Ads

1. Privacy-Compliant Personalization

With the demise of third-party cookies, Google Ads’ reliance on first-party data emerges as the cornerstone of compliant yet hyper-targeted campaigns. Over 50% of consumers now favor brands with transparent data practices, prompting marketers to adopt zero-party data strategies—such as loyalty programs or interactive quizzes—to fuel personalized ad experiences. Topkee’s TTO platform elevates this approach by enabling granular audience segmentation and cross-channel conversion tracking, ensuring ads dynamically adapt to user preferences without violating privacy norms.

2. Generative AI for Creative Scale

Google Ads’ Gemini and AI-powered tools are redefining creative efficiency, generating thousands of ad variants (text, images, videos) in minutes for Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO). These tools auto-adapt creatives to contextual signals—like showcasing winter apparel for cold-weather searches or syncing real-time inventory updates from Local Inventory Ads. Topkee’s creative services augment this by refining AI-generated drafts with human expertise, ensuring brand consistency across channels. which are then manually polished to align with brand guidelines, boosting engagement rates by up to 25%. This hybrid model—combining Google Advertising’ automation with Topkee’s strategic oversight—maximizes ROI for omnichannel campaigns while maintaining creative relevance.

IV. Omnichannel KPIs & Measurement

To maximize ROI, marketers must shift from last-click attribution to holistic measurement frameworks that quantify cross-channel influence. Google Ads, combined with Topkee’s TTO platform, enables precise tracking of offline conversions tied to digital campaigns

• Unified Performance Metrics: Leverage Google’s store visit measurement and Topkee’s TMID tracking to attribute offline sales to online campaigns. underscoring the need for omnichannel ROAS (per McKinsey) over siloed metrics.
• AI-Driven Budget Allocation: Utilize Google Ads’ smart bidding and Topkee’s attribution reports to dynamically optimize spend across Performance Max, YouTube, and search campaigns, ensuring budget aligns with full-funnel impact.

This data-centric approach proves digital’s tangible role in driving physical sales while future-proofing measurement against cookie deprecation.

Conclusion

Omnichannel success hinges on unifying data, technology, and measurement to deliver seamless consumer journeys. To future-proof your strategy with Google Ads:

• Audit & Activate First-Party Data Transition to cookie-less targeting by leveraging tools like Topkee’s TTO platform, which streamlines conversion tracking and audience segmentation while ensuring privacy compliance. Pair this with Google Ads’ AI-driven insights to hyper-personalize campaigns without third-party dependencies.
• Deploy AI at Scale Pilot Performance Max to automate cross-channel bidding (e.g., Pandora’s 21% ROAS lift) and Topkee’s AI-powered creative services to generate high-converting ad variants. This synergy between Google’s automation (e.g., Gemini for dynamic creatives) and Topkee’s human-optimized designs ensures brand consistency and performance.
• Measure Full-Funnel Impact Replace siloed metrics with omnichannel KPIs—track store visits, offline sales, and cross-channel influence. Topkee’s attribution reports and TMID tracking provide granular insights, linking online ad spend to in-store revenue.

Appendix

• Marketing is at an inflection point. Here’s why that’s an opportunity
• The omnichannel advantage: How online experiences strengthen the overall store
• Don't cool down just yet: Why summer is your fast start to the retail marathon in 2024