Google Merchandise Shop Analytics Report

Introduction

This is the Google Merchandise Shop (GMS). It can be found at https://shop.merch.google, and is the official online store where you can buy Google‑branded merchandise (apparel, accessories, lifestyle items, stationery, etc.). The site categorizes products by clothing (men's, women's, kids), accessories, drinkware, bags, and Google/brand collections (Android, YouTube, Chrome Dino, etc.)

The website also contains some information on clothing sustainability, returns and exchanges, shipping, FAQs, and a contact page. Overall, its primary purpose is to sell Google-branded merchandise to consumers.

This report will focus on the website's performance over the last calendar year (January 1, 2024 - December 31, 2024).

Data & Analysis

An engaged session means that a user met one of three criteria: stayed on a page longer than 10 seconds, performed a key event, or visited 2 or more pages. While an engaged session does not always indicate a conversion event — in this case, purchasing an item — it means that users are engaging with your site for a meaningful amount of time.

User Acquisition

One of the most important things to recognize is where exactly users are coming to your site from. There are several different ways that a user may find your site:

• Direct: users enter via typing in the direct website URL, or via a saved link
• Organic search: users enter via organic, unpaid search results
• Referral: users enter via non-ad links on other sites
• Cross-network: users enter via ads posted on a variety of networks
• Paid search: users enter via ads on search engine sites
• Email: users enter via links in an email

Looking at the GMS data, direct was the most common way that users found the site (70.3%), followed by organic search (18.19%) and then referral (4.82%).

Traffic Portfolio Analysis

Direct traffic is well above the balanced number, while every other category is significantly lower. Direct traffic is likely a result of links being shared at conferences, events, etcetera. Thus, improving non-direct search traffic is the most significant improvement that GMS should aim to make.

Conversion Funnel

Overall, only a small percentage of users who engage with GMS follow through with their purchase:

In terms of my own anecdotal experience purchasing on the site, the only roadblock I hit was between the "add to cart" and "begin checkout" stages. When prompted to checkout, it required that I log in to my google account. This may only take a couple of seconds, but it gives the user time to think about their purchase and click out of the screen.

Top Performing Products

Based on the data, the most popular items are in the men's apparel, new, and clearance sections. The most successful revenue generation items have been:

• Super G Camp Fleece Black Pullover: $33,497 generated
• Chrome Dino Holiday Lodge Sweater: $36,024 generated

Both of these items are cold-weather/holiday items, which may suggest success in holiday campaigns.

Conclusion

The Google Merch Shop generates a healthy amount of traffic to their site. Although there is a large imbalance in traffic sources — direct makes up ~70% of all traffic — this is likely due to links being shared at conferences and other events. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it means that there is room for improvement in non-direct sources.

Email users were by far the most engaged, and bought the most items proportional to their total user traffic. Capitalizing on this with a more aggressive email campaign could increase traffic and sales.

The most successful items were men's apparel, especially winter/holiday items. GMS could take this a couple of directions, either leaning into men's apparel or focusing campaigns more heavily on collectibles/women's apparel in order to boost revenue in that area.