Client Case - Currency conversion and weather data

Posted on August 3, 2018 (Last Updated: August 06, 2021)

Several of our clients have recently been using weather data and currency conversion for their product feeds.In one recent example, our client was already selling from stores in multiple countries globally, but came to us with the desire to see an optimization and improvement to the basic product data in their existing Google Shopping Feed

With our goal to help Danish webstores expand into new markets, the partnership with this company looks to be ideal in helping them achieve their goals and give them optimized, high-performance feeds for further expansion. 
When selling online, e-commerce businesses should strive to make use of any extra features, which can give them the crucial edge over their competitors.

Currency Conversion

Our client first specified different preferences for feeds depending on their target country.

For example, their UK feed will make use of WakeupData's currency converter - which allows you to automatically show your product listings in the correct price when selling in multiple countries  - without having to make any changes to your website.

When submitting a Google Shopping feed, you’re required to provide the currency that your prices are in. If you’re submitting US dollars, you append USD to the price field. If you’re submitting Canadian dollars, you append CAD.

But what happens when you want to sell across multiple countries that support various currencies? Google gives you a few options.

  1. You can upload a new feed in the desired country’s local language using the currency in the country of sale.
  2. Some countries support campaigns in multiple languages. If this is the case for your desired country, you can upload a new feed in a supported language using the currency in the country of sale.
  3. Use the currency conversion feature. This allows you to upload a new feed using your preferred currency. The feed still has to be in a supported language of the country you are targeting.

For those countries that support multiple languages, you must submit your product data in the same language as your product landing pages. If your site only has product pages in English, you’ll only be able to sell in countries that list English as a supported language. For a list of supported languages for each country, click here.

The currency conversion feature is a great option for those retailers who sell and ship across multiple countries yet don’t have websites with product pages in each country’s currency. It gives you a way to expand your reach without having to update you website.

Say you’re a retailer whose website is in English but are looking to sell your products to people in Mexico. Since English is a supported language for Mexico, you can use the currency conversion feature to list your product prices in Pesos. You can then create a shopping campaign within your AdWords account targeting Mexico.

Currency conversion is automatically enabled in all Merchant Center accounts. You simply have to submit the feed with the prices that you are already using on your website and Google will automatically estimate the currency conversion for your ad. The ads will then show in both the currency you submitted and the local currency. Prices in the desired currency are based on the exchange rate from Google Finance.

What You Need to Know

While Google does most of the work for you, you still need to complete certain requirements.

Language

While your currency will be converted to that of the target country, this is not the case for language. You’ll need to provide your feed in a language supported by the country you plan on expanding to. For more information on language requirements, you can reference Google’s help article.

Shipping

The shipping settings need to reflect that of the new country you are selling in. You’ll need to add/update these in your Merchant Center account.

Price and Tax Requirements

You must follow the price and tax requirements of the currency that you are submitting. If you are submitting a feed with prices in USD, you must follow the price and tax requirements of the United States.

Per Google, the final price of an item will ultimately depend on the exchange rate used by the shopper’s credit card or payment service provider.

Feed Submission Settings

Feed Submission Settings

When you are ready to submit your feed, you’ll go to the Feeds tab within your Merchant Center account and select the + button (as you would for any feed submission). Next, select the Country of Sale and Language for the new feed you are submitting. You’ll then proceed with the normal submission process.  

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a way to sell across multiple countries without having to spend tons of time updating your website, the currency conversion feature may be your best option. It gives you a quick, easy way to expand your reach to shopper across multiple countries.

We use European Central Bank to give them the most up-to-date conversion rates.

 

Price Tracking

As well as this, we also offer price tracking to enable our client to monitor the pricing strategies of up to 5 competitors at once.

This gives them valuable insights into the performance of products as well as up-to-date info on competitor stock levels and pricing changes which can be quickly implementing into their pricing strategies and help them stay one step in front.


Related: Get more info on Competitor Monitoring and Price Tracking here. 

Product Feed Split Testing

We also offer any WakeupData user the ability to effectively split test their product feeds, enabling them to trial specific changes to their listings.

The performance of test and control groups can be easily established within the platform, and the winner chosen based on factors like impressions, clicks or overall conversions. 

Get more info in the video below and check out our guide to Split Testing your Product Feeds with WakeupData here. 

Weather Data

We have also discussed with them the possibility of implementing WakeupData's weather data feature, which we introduced earlier this year.

For this company, specializing in some products which are aimed towards a certain weather type, this tool could be ideal in giving targeted displays to certain shoppers, dependant upon the current weather conditions of their region. 

There are 3 different parameters: minimum temperature, maximum temperature and weather type - ensuring that you can maximize your company's exposure and online conversions during periods of the most ‘opportune’ weather.

Keep your eyes on WakeupData's blog to hear the results of our client's optimized feeds, read our other Client Cases here and don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions regarding weather data or currency conversion. 

Written by Ben Culpin

Topics:News

About the WakeupData Blog

Our blog is dedicated to helping brands and retailers improve their ecommerce performance, automate their business processes, and grow internationally. 

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