Build a Proud AI-Powered Retail Strategy with Google Display Ads
The retail landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, with AI-driven advertising emerging as a game-changer for businesses struggling with low-selling products. Recent data from Google's Consumer Behavior Pulse reveals that 88% of retail sales still occur in physical stores, yet digital channels influence nearly all purchase journeys. This omnichannel reality demands smarter marketing strategies, particularly for niche or seasonal items that often languish in inventory. Take Komfort, a leading Polish home furnishing retailer, as a prime example. Faced with ageing stock and supply chain inefficiencies, Komfort leveraged AI-powered Google Display Ads to transform underperforming products into revenue generators. Their success story underscores the transformative potential of AI in digital advertising, offering valuable insights for retailers and marketers alike.
I. Challenges of Low-Selling Products in Retail
Low-selling products present a multifaceted challenge for retailers, impacting everything from inventory management to marketing efficiency. Komfort’s experience highlights these pain points vividly. With 50,000 items across multiple categories, the company grappled with outdated collections and warehousing costs tied to slow-moving inventory. Their initial ad strategy, focused on maximizing ROI, inadvertently deprioritized 40% of their stock—products that, while niche, held untapped potential. This approach is common among retailers, where algorithms naturally favor bestsellers, leaving low-volume items in a vicious cycle of neglect. Compounding the issue, manual campaign management struggles to adapt to fluctuating demand, especially for seasonal goods. The result? Missed opportunities and bloated inventory costs. For Komfort, the turning point came when they recognized that AI could redefine what “low-performing” truly means.
II. AI-Driven Solutions for Product Promotion
Unlike traditional campaigns, Performance Max uses machine learning to assemble dynamic creatives in real time, targeting users at optimal moments in their consumer journey. For Komfort, the breakthrough came when their agency, Salestube, developed a custom Google Ads script to identify and promote products with zero clicks in the past 30 days. This automation was a revelation. By feeding Google Merchant Center data—such as competitive pricing and trending categories—into the AI model, the script prioritized low-selling items with high market potential. The outcome? A test campaign exclusively featuring these “underdogs” achieved a staggering 17:1 ROI, outperforming Komfort’s flagship campaign by 50%. This case illustrates AI’s unparalleled ability to uncover hidden opportunities where human analysis falls short.
III. Implementing AI-Powered Campaigns: Komfort’s Approach
Komfort’s journey from insight to execution involved strategic collaboration and technical innovation. Partnering with agencies Salestube and Value Media, they built a Java-based script that automated two critical functions: generating a real-time feed of neglected products and integrating Merchant Center’s competitive insights. The script’s logic was elegant yet powerful—it promoted items aligning with market demand signals, like top-clicked categories or competitively priced products, then iteratively refined its approach based on 30-day performance data. This closed-loop system ensured continuous optimization without manual intervention. Notably, the solution didn’t require overhauling existing infrastructure; it enhanced Performance Max’s native AI with tailored rules. For retailers, Komfort’s blueprint demonstrates that AI adoption can be incremental, leveraging existing tools like Google Ads scripts and Merchant Center to achieve outsized results.
IV. Results and Impact of AI-Powered Ads
The numbers speak volumes. Komfort’s enhanced campaign delivered a 63% higher ROI (23:1) than their control group, alongside a 14% lower CPC and 26% higher click-through rate. Beyond metrics, the business impact was profound: 13,000 previously overlooked items gained visibility, rapidly reducing stagnant inventory. Supply chain agility improved as warehouses cleared space for fresher collections. Perhaps most strikingly, the campaign drove an estimated 11X revenue increase in one month—a testament to AI’s ability to monetize latent inventory value. These results challenge conventional wisdom that low-selling products are inevitable cost centers. Instead, they reveal how AI and Google Display Advertising can recalibrate marketing priorities, turning inventory challenges into profitable growth levers.
V. Omnichannel Context: Enhancing Customer Journeys with AI
Komfort’s success aligns with a broader omnichannel shift, where AI bridges online and offline shopping behaviors. Google's research shows that 70% of Australians use phones in-store for purchase decisions, blurring channel boundaries. Tools like Performance Max for store goals capitalize on this by driving footfall via localized ads. Pandora’s omnichannel strategy, for instance, boosted in-store revenue by 17% using local inventory ads. For retailers, the lesson is clear: AI-powered ads shouldn’t operate in silos. By unifying cross-channel data—from YouTube browsing to in-store searches—brands can guide consumers seamlessly from discovery to purchase, regardless of where the final sale occurs.
VI. Future of AI in Advertising: Trends and Innovations
The horizon brims with possibilities. Google Media Lab’s prototypes hint at AI’s next frontiers: predictive creative scoring (70% accurate in forecasting brand lift), real-time trend-spotting for culturally relevant ads, and AI Audiences that reduce customer acquisition costs by 43%. Emerging tools like Circle to Search and AI Overviews will further dissolve barriers between discovery and transaction. For retailers, staying competitive will require embracing these innovations while maintaining rigorous data analysis—the foundation of effective AI models. Crucially, cross-functional collaboration (marketing, IT, legal) will be essential to scale AI beyond point solutions into end-to-end strategies.
Topkee’s solutions amplify this approach. For example, its TTO platform automates omnichannel campaign management, synchronizing Google Display Ads with offline conversion tracking, while TM tracking links provide granular insights into how each creative influences in-store visits. Similarly, WEBER-generated landing pages maintain messaging consistency across touchpoints, ensuring a cohesive experience from ad click to physical purchase. Topkee’s AI-powered creative workflow accelerates this further by generating text and visual variants based on historical performance data, ensuring brand consistency while testing multiple iterations.
VII. Practical Steps for Adopting AI-Powered Ads
Getting started needn’t be daunting. Retailers can begin with embedded AI in Google Display Ads, such as Performance Max’s automated bidding and intent matching. Key steps include: auditing inventory for high-potential low-sellers, integrating Merchant Center data, and setting omnichannel KPIs (e.g., store visits + online sales). Automation features like Auto Apply Recommendations streamline keyword optimization, while AI-generated creatives cut production timelines. Agencies like Salestube can help customize solutions, but even solo adopters can achieve quick wins by leveraging Google's support resources. The goal is to start small, measure relentlessly, and expand AI’s role as confidence grows.
For example, Topkee’s TTO platform automates this process by synchronizing product catalogs with competitive pricing insights, ensuring AI models prioritize items with untapped demand. Tools like Topkee’s TM tracking links provide granular attribution, measuring how display ads influence offline purchases through customizable UTM parameters. Topkee’s AI-driven creative workflow accelerates this by generating text and visual variants based on market trends, tested via iterative TMID-linked campaigns.
Conclusion: Transforming Low-Selling Products into Revenue Drivers
Komfort’s story epitomizes AI’s transformative power in retail advertising, particularly when integrated with tools like Google Display Ads. By redefining performance metrics and automating inventory-led marketing, they turned logistical headaches into profit centers. The key takeaway? AI isn’t just for optimizing bestsellers—it’s a lifeline for products that traditional strategies overlook. For marketers, the mandate is clear: harness AI to align advertising with broader business goals, from supply chain efficiency to revenue growth. Those ready to embark on this journey will find no shortage of tools and partners to light the way.
