Is Your Google Ads Strategy Missing These Peak Season Opportunities?
The retail landscape is evolving rapidly, and the peak shopping season—spanning from October to January—has become a critical period for businesses to maximize revenue. In 2024, global online sales during this period surpassed $1 trillion, setting a new record. With search interest in online retail growing steadily, 2025 is expected to be even more competitive.
Consumers today are more deliberate in their purchasing decisions, conducting extensive research before buying. Google’s AI-powered Google Ads solutions , such as Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns, provide businesses with the tools to engage shoppers at every stage of their journey. This article explores how retailers can leverage these strategies to boost conversions, enhance brand loyalty, and optimize budgets for peak season success.
Ⅰ. Understanding the Extended Peak Season (October-January)
The holiday shopping season has evolved beyond traditional events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, now spanning from October to early January. In 2024, global online sales during November and December surpassed $1 trillion, reflecting this extended timeframe. Research indicates shoppers increasingly begin their purchasing journeys earlier, with 66% of Australians visiting multiple websites before finalizing decisions. This prolonged period allows retailers to engage consumers across four distinct mindsets: deliberate, determined, deal-seeking, and devoted. Deliberate shoppers, who prioritize research and early planning, represent 35% of New Zealanders conducting deeper purchase investigations. YouTube Video View campaigns and Demand Gen ads effectively inspire these shoppers during their exploratory phase.
As the season progresses, determined shoppers dominate, driven by urgency as gifting deadlines approach. Performance Max campaigns help capture their intent by showcasing products across Google’s network, leveraging the platform’s role as the destination for cross-checking purchase information. Deal-seeking behaviors persist throughout the season, with 82% of shoppers actively hunting for discounts. AI-powered Search and Shopping Feeds cater to this mindset by highlighting promotions and fulfillment options. Finally, devoted shoppers—evidenced by 40% of Google shopping searches mentioning specific brands—benefit from Smart Bidding strategies like Target ROAS, which optimize bids for high-value repeat customers. By aligning campaigns with these evolving mindsets and leveraging Google’s AI-driven tools, businesses can maximize visibility and conversions across the entire peak season.
Ⅱ. Building Consumer Confidence Through AI-Powered Google Ads
Confidence plays a crucial role in purchase decisions, particularly in today’s digital-first commerce landscape. Google’s research reveals that highly confident shoppers are 10X more likely to be satisfied with their purchase, 6X more likely to repurchase, and 18X more likely to recommend a brand to others. As consumer demand for seamless experiences grows, businesses must prioritize agility in their digital transformation strategies. For instance, adidas leveraged measurement technologies to analyze customer behavior and adapt to evolving expectations, recognizing that online touchpoints significantly influence purchasing decisions regardless of the final conversion channel.
AI-powered solutions like Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns enhance consumer trust by delivering relevant, data-driven ads, while Smart Bidding strategies such as Target ROAS optimize ad spend for high-value customers. adidas’ experience highlights the importance of real-time automation and machine learning in scaling audience reach and improving revenue. By enabling Smart Shopping campaigns with new customer acquisition goals, they achieved an 83% increase in conversion value from first-time buyers and a 47% higher conversion rate among new users. This underscores how closing the gap between data, insights, and actions—through technologies like intent-signal-driven automation—can accelerate both campaign performance and strategic decision-making. Retailers can similarly leverage these tools to maintain consumer confidence while ensuring profitability across the buying journey.
Ⅲ. Maximizing ROI with Performance Max Campaigns
Performance Max campaigns are designed to capture cross-channel intent, making them ideal for omnichannel retailers. Topkee’s Google Ads services enhance these campaigns through a data-driven approach, starting with a comprehensive website assessment to identify gaps and optimize content for better search rankings. By leveraging TTO tools, businesses can streamline account management, automate conversion tracking, and synchronize offline/online data for hyper-personalized targeting.
Topkee further maximizes through AI-powered creative production and dynamic market strategies. Their team conducts in-depth keyword research, combining smart bidding and broad matching to improve ad relevance and reach. Additionally, Topkee’s TM settings enable granular campaign tracking, while attribution reports analyze metrics like cost-per-conversion and ROI to refine budgets and bids in real time.
Ⅳ. Video Marketing Strategies for Higher Conversions
Video content significantly enhances credibility and engagement. Vera Clinic’s Demand Gen campaigns, which featured detailed explainer videos, achieved a 9% higher click-through rate and a 29% lift in conversions.
Demand Gen campaigns are particularly effective for brand awareness, as they leverage YouTube and Discover placements to reach users early in their journey. Measuring success through CTR, CPA, and conversion rates ensures continuous optimization.
For retailers, investing in high-quality video content and Demand Gen campaigns can drive both short-term conversions and long-term brand loyalty.
Ⅴ. Year-Round Strategies for Deal-Seeking Shoppers
Deal-seeking behavior isn’t limited to Cyber Weekend—82% of shoppers actively look for promotions throughout the season. Topkee’s data-driven approach includes TTO initialization for centralized Google Ads account management and cross-channel performance tracking, enabling dynamic budget allocation and automated conversion event synchronization. For precise audience targeting, Topkee’s keyword research tools identify high-intent search terms, while TM settings enhance campaign tracking by customizing URL parameters for granular performance analysis.
Creative optimization is equally critical; Topkee’s graphic/text ad production combines AI-generated insights with designer expertise to align visuals with promotional messaging. Post-click engagement is strengthened through Google Ads strategies, where user behavior data (collected via TTO) segments audiences for personalized Google Ads delivery. Performance is continuously refined using advertising report analysis, which evaluates ROI, conversion quality, and budget efficiency across Google Search, display network, and Performance Max campaigns.
Conclusion
The peak retail season presents immense opportunities for businesses willing to adapt. By leveraging AI-powered Google Ads, video marketing, and data-driven strategies, retailers can enhance consumer confidence, maximize ROI, and sustain growth year-round.
For businesses seeking expert guidance, consulting with a ads specialist can help tailor these strategies to your unique needs.
