If you sell both online and in-store and manage a large product catalog, advertising on Google can help you reach more customers and drive more sales. With Lightspeed eCom (E-Series), you can connect your store to Google and promote your products through Free listings or paid Google Shopping campaigns.

You can choose between:

• Automated setup with Google Smart Shopping campaigns and Free listings (powered by Kliken).
• Manual setup by uploading your product feed to Google Merchant Center and managing campaigns in Google Ads yourself.

Both methods sync your product catalog with Google, but the automated setup saves time, while the manual setup gives you full control.

Advertising on Google

Advertising on Google is especially valuable for merchants with large catalogs and hybrid (online + offline) businesses. It helps you:

• Reach more shoppers across Google Shopping, Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, and partner websites.
• Showcase inventory online and in-store (delivery, pickup, or local shopping options).
• Save time with automation (or choose manual control if you prefer).
• Stay competitive by appearing alongside other retailers selling similar products.

Automating Google Shopping campaigns

The easiest way to start advertising is through the integration between Lightspeed eCom (E-Series) and Google, powered by Kliken. This setup allows you to place your products in Free listings across Google surfaces and launch Google Smart Shopping campaigns, which combine Shopping ads, display ads, YouTube ads, and Gmail ads.

Free Listings

Your products appear during relevant searches in unpaid Google surfaces like Google Shopping tab, Google Search, Google Images, Google Maps and Google Lens.

Google Smart Shopping Ads

Smart Shopping ads combine multiple ad formats and use Google’s machine learning to optimize bids and placements automatically. Ads can appear in Google Search Network (Search, Images, Shopping tab), YouTube, Gmail, Google Display Network (partner websites).

These ads are marked as “Sponsored” or “Ads by Google.”

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Use automated campaigns if:

• You have a large catalog and want a quick setup with minimal management.
• You want Google’s machine learning to optimize your ads.
• You’re comfortable with monthly package pricing.

Setting up automated Google Shopping ads

Before setting up a campaign, make sure your store meets Google’s requirements:

• Confirm your products are not listed in Unsupported Shopping Content.
• Set up shipping and tax in your eCom admin.
• Display accepted payment methods, contact details, refund/return policy, and shipping policy.
• Use correct categories and subcategories.
• Write clear product titles and descriptions with relevant keywords.
• Upload high-quality, watermark-free product images (preferably on a white background).

To set up automated Google Shopping ads:

1. From Retail POS, go to the Online tab > Overview, then scroll down and click Go to eCom (E-Series). Your eCom admin will open.
2. In eCom admin, navigate to Other channels > Google shopping.
3. In the Automated Google ads section, click Enable.
4. Pick a country (one per campaign) and a language (your ads will be shown to shoppers whose browser is set to this language).
5. Click Continue to Categories. Choose the most relevant Google category for your store to ensure your ads appear in the right search results. Select the condition of your products (New, Refurbished, or Used).
6. Click Continue.
7. Choose what products you want to advertise. If you don’t use categories in your store, all products will be selected automatically. To advertise only specific products, assign them to categories first, then select those categories for the campaign.
8. Click Continue to Store Review. If errors are flagged, click View Details and follow the instructions to fix them. Then click I fixed this, Refresh my store.
9. Click Continue to Preview to see how your ads will look.
10. Click Get my store on Google Shopping.
11. Select a package to launch your campaign:

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Each package includes a $20 monthly automation fee, which covers:

• Creation and management of your Google Merchant Center
• Daily feed updates
• Smart feed optimization
• Adding eligible products to Google Surfaces
• Unlimited Smart Shopping campaigns with no management fees.

Google’s review process takes 3 to 5 days. Once approved, your ads will appear in relevant Google searches.

If you already have a Google Merchant Center account, you can link it within Stats > Shopping Campaign Status, but only during the first hour after purchase.

After the first hour, a new Merchant Center account will be created automatically. You can later add yourself as an admin user through Advanced Options in the campaign settings.

Setting up product feed manually (advanced)

If you prefer to build and manage campaigns yourself or want granular control over bids, targeting, and campaign structure, you can manually upload your store’s product feed to Google Merchant Center. From there, you’ll create and optimize campaigns directly in Google Ads.

For more information, please read the detailed article in the Ecwid Help Center: Upload product feed to Google Shopping manually (advanced)

To generate your product feed in eCom:

1. From Retail POS, go to the Online tab > Overview, then scroll down and click Go to eCom (E-Series). Your eCom admin will open.
2. Navigate to Other channels > Google shopping.
3. Click Generate Feed to get an XML feed URL.
4. Copy the feed URL.
5. From the Marketplace category dropdown, select a category for your products. (You can assign specific categories to individual items if needed.)
6. Click Save.

To upload the feed to Google Merchant Center:

1. Sign in to your Google Merchant Center account.

2. Navigate to Products > Add products. Choose Add products from a file and paste the feed URL from your eCom admin.

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3. (Optional) Adjust the update schedule or add authentication details.

   Note: Lightspeed eCom regenerates the feed every 5 hours.

4. Select the target country/countries and language.
5. Click Continue.

Google will fetch and process your feed.

Once your feed is processed and products are approved, link your Google Merchant Center and Google Ads accounts to launch and manage your campaigns.

Best practices for merchants with large catalogs

• Start with bestsellers or seasonal products instead of advertising everything at once.
• Use high-quality, watermark-free images (ideally on a white background).
• Categorize products properly in your store.
• Add clear shipping, return, and payment information to your storefront.
• Monitor performance regularly - test, adjust, and optimize campaigns.