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Should You Lower Prices When Starting Google Shopping Ads?

I recently received an interesting Google Ads question:

Is it a good strategy to lower the product price during the initial days of a Google Shopping campaign, keep only around $10–$15 above supplier cost, generate conversions, and then use the search terms behind those conversions to optimize the product feed?

My answer is:

Yes and no.

The basic thinking behind the strategy makes sense.

A more attractive price can potentially encourage customers to purchase.

Those early purchases can give you useful campaign data.

And once you start seeing which searches are producing conversions, you can use that information to improve your Google Shopping strategy.

However, there is one part of this approach that I personally would change.

I would not build the strategy around launching the product at one normal price and then simply increasing that price later.

Instead, I would use a genuine introductory or limited-time discount.

Let me explain.

The Original Google Shopping Strategy

The proposed strategy looks something like this:

Suppose your supplier cost is $50.

You launch the product at:

$60–$65

That leaves only around $10–$15 above the supplier cost.

The objective is not necessarily to maximize profit during the first few days.

Instead, the objective is to:

  1. Make the offer more attractive.
  2. Generate initial Google Shopping conversions.
  3. Identify which search terms are producing purchases.
  4. Learn which products or queries attract the right customers.
  5. Use that conversion data to optimize the product feed.
  6. Increase the selling price once the campaign has gained traction.

There is logic behind that approach.

But I think the way you present the pricing matters.

My Approach: Build the Business Like a Brand

Whenever I work on marketing, I do not like looking only at:

How can we get the cheapest conversion today?

I also think about:

What kind of brand are we building?

Your pricing is part of your brand.

If a customer sees your product selling for one price today and then notices that the same product suddenly became significantly more expensive without any explanation, it may create unnecessary confusion.

That is why I prefer establishing the actual price you want the product to have.

Then, if you need extra motivation during the launch period, use a genuine promotional offer.

Use an Introductory Discount Instead

For example, suppose the price you eventually want to charge is:

$100

Instead of starting the website at $75 and then later changing the product to $100, you could list the intended price and run an introductory promotion.

For example:

Regular Price: $100

Launch Offer: 20% OFF

Current Price: $80

Now the customer understands what is happening.

There is a clear reason why the price is lower.

You are not simply changing the value of the product.

You are running a promotional campaign.

This is a much cleaner marketing approach in my opinion.

Limited-Time Offers Can Be Strong CTAs

A promotional offer can also work as a strong CTA — Call to Action.

Customers often need a reason to purchase now instead of saying:

“I’ll think about it and come back later.”

A legitimate limited-time discount can provide that reason.

Examples could include:

The offer should make sense for your margins and overall business strategy.

The important point is that the customer clearly understands that the reduced price is part of a promotion.

Can This Help Generate Early Google Shopping Conversions?

Potentially, yes.

Price is obviously one factor customers consider when shopping online.

If the introductory offer makes your product more attractive, it can help you generate initial purchases.

And those conversions can provide useful information about your campaign.

For instance, you may begin learning:

That information can then help you make better optimization decisions.

Using Search-Term Data to Improve Your Product Feed

The second part of the original question involved using the terms that generated conversions to improve the Google Shopping product feed.

That is a sensible objective.

Once you begin getting meaningful conversion activity, you can study what customers are actually searching for when they discover and purchase your products.

That information may help you better understand how people describe your products.

You can then review whether your product feed accurately represents those important characteristics.

Areas you may want to review include:

However, the objective should not be to stuff keywords artificially into the feed.

Your feed still needs to accurately describe the product.

Use the data to better understand buyer intent.

Why I Don’t Prefer Simply Increasing the Price Later

Suppose you deliberately launch a product at a low normal price purely because you want conversion data.

Then after several days you suddenly increase that price.

You might create several problems for your overall marketing strategy.

1. Customer Expectations

Early visitors may become accustomed to the lower price.

2. Brand Positioning

If your pricing moves around without a clear promotional reason, your brand positioning becomes less consistent.

3. Conversion Performance Can Change

Your campaign performance at the cheaper price may not necessarily represent what happens when the price increases.

A product converting strongly at $60 may behave differently at $85.

That means you should be careful about assuming that all your early performance data will remain equally valuable after a major pricing change.

Your Conversion Data Has Context

This is particularly important.

If your campaign generated its conversions because the product was unusually cheap, those conversions were generated under that specific offer.

When the offer changes, customer behavior can also change.

So you should not simply think:

“I generated ten conversions at the low price. Now Google knows exactly what to do when I increase it.”

The customer still has to find your new offer attractive.

This is another reason I prefer:

Normal intended price + temporary discount

instead of:

Artificially low normal price + unexplained increase later.

A Better Google Shopping Launch Strategy

If I were approaching this idea, I would structure it like this:

Step 1: Decide Your Real Price

Start by understanding your costs, margin requirements and market positioning.

Know what you actually want the product to sell for.

Step 2: Create a Genuine Introductory Offer

If you want to accelerate early sales, create a limited-time discount.

For example:

20% OFF during launch.

Step 3: Run Your Google Shopping Campaign

Use the promotional offer as an additional reason for customers to take action.

Step 4: Monitor Conversions

See which products, searches and offers are producing sales.

Step 5: Analyze the Data

Look for patterns in the terms and products associated with conversions.

Step 6: Improve the Product Feed

Use genuine customer-search behavior to improve how clearly your feed communicates relevant product characteristics.

Step 7: End the Promotion

When the introductory period is over, return to the established normal price.

Your customers understand what happened:

The sale ended.

That is much cleaner than appearing to randomly increase the product price.

What About Profit Margin?

There is another factor you should never forget:

Getting conversions is not the same as building a profitable business.

If you sell very close to supplier cost, you still need to consider other expenses.

Depending on your business, those can include:

So do not lower your pricing so aggressively that every sale loses money unless you have intentionally calculated and accepted that acquisition strategy.

The original question mentioned adding only around $10–$15 above supplier cost.

Whether that is viable depends entirely on the economics of the particular business.

My Final Answer

So, is lowering your price during the initial days of a Google Shopping campaign a good strategy?

It can be useful if you structure it properly.

I like the idea of using a strong launch offer to encourage early conversions.

I also like the idea of using conversion data to better understand customer search behavior and improve the product feed.

However, I would personally avoid making an artificially low price look like the permanent normal price and then simply increasing it later.

Instead:

Set your intended price.

Then:

Create a genuine introductory or limited-time promotion.

This approach gives you the conversion benefit of an attractive launch offer while keeping your brand and pricing strategy clearer.

Need Help With Google Shopping Ads?

At AARSWEBS, we work with businesses on Google Ads campaign strategy, ecommerce advertising and Shopping campaign optimization.

If your Google Shopping campaign is generating traffic but not enough sales—or you need help building a better campaign structure—our team can help.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Should I lower my product price to get Google Shopping conversions?

A lower promotional price can potentially make the offer more attractive and help generate purchases. I prefer using a genuine introductory discount instead of artificially setting a low permanent price and increasing it later.

Is a launch discount good for Google Shopping Ads?

It can be. A limited-time offer can act as a strong call to action and encourage customers to make an earlier purchasing decision.

Can I use Google Shopping conversion searches to optimize my feed?

Conversion data can help you understand how customers are discovering and buying your products. You can use those insights when reviewing your product titles, descriptions and other relevant feed information.

Should I sell only $10–$15 above supplier cost?

That depends on your economics. Supplier cost is only one expense. You should also consider advertising costs, fees, returns, shipping and your required profit margin.

Should I increase prices after getting conversions?

My preference is to establish the intended normal price and use an introductory discount. When the promotion ends, returning to your normal price is more consistent than arbitrarily changing the product’s base price.

Conclusion

The strategy behind the question is interesting because it combines two useful concepts:

Competitive introductory pricing and conversion-driven optimization.

But how you position the offer matters.

Instead of changing prices without explanation, build the product as a brand.

Know your intended price.

Create a genuine launch discount.

Use that promotional period to generate sales and learn from your Google Shopping data.

Then continue optimizing from there.

That is the approach I would prefer.

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