Who else wants to boost offline conversions with Google Ads' conversion_environment parameter?
In February 2025, Google Ads announced a major policy update: advertisers are required to add a "conversion_environment" parameter to offline conversion data import (OCI) by April 30. This change is not only an adjustment of technical specifications, but also reveals the core challenge of the omnichannel retail era - how to accurately track consumers' complex shopping journeys across online and offline. The example of European electronics giant MediaMarkt shows that through Google Ads' smart bidding strategy, its offline sales of headphone product lines have grown by an astonishing 78%, and this is just the tip of the iceberg of data-driven omnichannel strategies. With the double impact of the withdrawal of cookies and the tightening of privacy regulations, retailers are facing a critical moment of "transformation or elimination", and the latest technical upgrades of Google Advertising are providing key solutions for this omnichannel revolution.
I. Core challenges and opportunities of the omnichannel retail revolution
1. Consumer behavior change: from single channel to cross-channel shopping
The shopping journey of contemporary consumers has completely broken the boundaries between online and offline, forming a highly fragmented but interconnected behavioral network. Gabriël Dakdan, head of digital and physical commerce for MediaMarkt Benelux, captured this shift accurately: "Consumers are no longer limited to a single channel. They choose where and how to buy based on the specific situation." This behavior pattern is particularly evident in high-priced categories such as electronics. Consumers conduct product research and price comparisons online, but ultimately choose to complete the purchase in physical stores. This cross-channel behavior has created the so-called "research online purchase offline" (ROPO) phenomenon. According to a joint study by Google and MediaMarkt, about 60% of electronic product purchases belong to this model. This shift has forced retailers to rethink performance attribution models. The traditional digital advertising evaluation method that only tracks the last click can no longer truly reflect the impact of advertising on physical sales.
2. The dilemma of offline sales and the urgency of digital transformation
The retail industry is facing a survival crisis for physical channels. The milestone event that the number of online stores in the Netherlands has surpassed physical stores for the first time has sounded the alarm for traditional retail models. Customer traffic to high street stores continues to decline, but paradoxically, MediaMarkt data shows that when consumers finally decide to buy, physical stores still play an important role. This contradictory phenomenon reveals the direction of transformation of physical retail - not being replaced by digital channels, but needing to be deeply integrated with digital tools. Dakdan pointed out: "We need to think about how to use online strategies to increase offline sales." This change in thinking means that marketing teams must break through the traditional KPI framework, incorporate indicators such as physical store traffic and sales into the optimization goals of digital advertising, and establish a truly cross-channel performance evaluation system. If retailers fail to achieve this digital transformation, they will gradually lose market share in the increasingly fierce omni-channel competition.
II, Google Ads technology upgrade and offline sales attribution
1. The strategic significance of the conversion_environment parameter
The conversion_environment parameter that Google Advertising requires advertisers to add before April 30, 2025 seems to be a technical detail adjustment, but in fact it has a far-reaching impact on omni-channel retail strategies. The core function of this parameter is to clearly distinguish whether the conversion occurs in the "web" or "app" environment, solving the long-standing problem of ambiguous attribution of cross-environment conversions. When consumers may click on an ad in a mobile browser but turn to the official app to complete the purchase, the lack of environmental labeling will cause the attribution system to be unable to accurately determine the causal relationship between the ad and the conversion. According to Google's internal data, advertisers who fully label the conversion environment can improve the optimization efficiency of their smart bidding system by up to 30%. More importantly, this parameter ensures that in-app conversion data will not mistakenly affect the bidding strategy of web ad campaigns, avoiding the system from making suboptimal decisions due to data pollution. For retailers such as MediaMarkt that operate websites, apps and physical stores at the same time, accurate environmental labeling is the foundation for achieving true omni-channel attribution.
2. How does the smart bidding system optimize cross-environment conversions
Google Ads' Smart Bidding system shows amazing adaptability in omni-channel retail scenarios. When MediaMarkt switched the headphone category to an omni-channel bidding strategy, the system not only considered online clicks and conversions, but also incorporated physical store sales data into the machine learning model. This "online to offline" (O2O) data integration enables AI to identify which ad clicks are most likely to lead to in-store purchases, thereby dynamically adjusting bidding strategies. It is worth noting that the system requires a training period of about 3 months to build a reliable prediction model, and the accumulation of data during this period is crucial. MediaMarkt's empirical results show that a fully trained smart bidding system can simultaneously increase online sales (9% growth) and offline sales (78% growth), breaking the zero-sum dilemma of online and offline cannibalization in traditional marketing. This win-win situation stems from the system's deep understanding of consumers' omnichannel behavior patterns - some consumers naturally prefer to order online, while others are willing to buy after physical experience. Smart bidding can automatically optimize advertising presentation and bidding strategies for different groups.
III. MediaMarkt omnichannel practical case analysis
1. Online to offline (O2O) inventory integration strategy
The core of MediaMarkt's omnichannel strategy is to break the inventory barriers between online and offline and create a seamless consumer experience. Its "order online, pick up in store" service demonstrates amazing efficiency - when consumers place an order on the website, the system can confirm the pickup status of nearby stores within 30 minutes. Behind this service is a complex inventory management system and deep integration of Google Ads. Ads can not only promote products, but also reflect the inventory status of each store in real time. This integration creates dual value: for consumers, it reduces the risk of unnecessary store visits; for the environment, it reduces the carbon footprint of separate delivery. MediaMarkt data shows that about 40% of online orders eventually choose to pick up in the store. This behavior not only increases store traffic, but also creates additional cross-selling opportunities - 15% of customers who pick up will buy other products in the store. Google Ads' Local Inventory Ads play a key role here. It can automatically display the real-time inventory of nearby stores based on the user's location, greatly shortening the conversion path from "click to pickup".
2. App scanning function enhances the physical store experience
MediaMarkt's physical store strategy cleverly integrates digital tools into offline scenarios, and the "price card scanning" function in its app is a typical example. When consumers scan the product price tag in the store, the app not only displays more detailed product information, but also allows real-time comparison of online prices, viewing alternative products, and even access to exclusive app offers. This design transforms physical stores into "digital showrooms", where consumers enjoy the real feeling of touching products while obtaining rich information from digital channels. It is worth noting that this feature is deeply integrated with Google Ads' "physical store visit" conversion tracking. The system can identify which ad clicks are most likely to lead to scanning behavior, thereby optimizing advertising delivery strategies. Data shows that users who use the scanning function have a 2.3 times higher in-store purchase conversion rate than ordinary customers, and the average order value is also increased by 18%. This "mobile-assisted shopping" model is the prototype of the future of omni-channel retail - digital and physical are no longer competing, but reinforcing each other.
IV. Topkee's Google Ads Solution
Topkee provides professional and comprehensive Google Advertising one-stop solution, focusing on helping companies improve online visibility and sales conversion through digital advertising. Our services cover the entire advertising cycle management from pre-evaluation to post-optimization, suitable for corporate customers of all sizes. During the website evaluation stage, we use advanced website scoring tools for comprehensive diagnosis, not only to identify existing SEO problems, but also to provide structured improvement plans to ensure that the website content meets the search engine optimization standards and has substantive value to the target audience. The detailed analysis report produced at this stage will serve as an important basis for the subsequent advertising strategy formulation.
For advertising strategy planning, Topkee's professional team will collect data from multiple dimensions such as market trends and competition analysis based on the characteristics of the customer's business, and produce customized marketing theme proposals. Our keyword research service not only covers core business vocabulary mining, but also expands the long-tail keyword library through competitor analysis and intelligent tools, and combines broad matching and intelligent bidding strategies to effectively improve advertising coverage and conversion quality. In terms of creative production, we use AI technology to assist in generating the first draft, and then a professional design team optimizes the visual presentation to ensure that the advertising material is both attractive and convertible.
Conclusion:
As consumers increasingly blur the line between digital and physical, retailers must also reimagine their role - no longer a single channel operator, but an integrated service provider for consumers' life journey. There is no ready-made roadmap for this transformation, but the omni-channel toolkit provided by Google Ads undoubtedly provides the best equipment for explorers. We recommend that retailers start with a small pilot, gradually accumulate experience and confidence, and seek the help of professional consultants when necessary. Remember, omni-channel is not an end, but a means, and the ultimate goal is to create a seamless experience that consumers truly value. In this era of change, the biggest risk is not the failure of transformation, but the refusal to transform.
