A guide for retailers on how to update opening hours on Google
If you own or manage a retail premises then at some stage over the coming weeks you’ll probably need to update your opening hours to reflect how you’ll be operating your business.
This short guide will show you how to update your opening hours so that customers will be informed via your google business listing.
Firstly, login to your Google Business dashboard – https://business.google.com. If possible, do this from a laptop or desktop PC as you’ll find it’s easier to navigate to the various sections.
If your opening hours are going to be temporary, i.e for a couple of weeks then go to the special hours section. This is usually used to update Christmas opening, public holidays etc but it will also be useful for periods of time where your hours will change. Choose the dates you want to edit hours and then click apply. Google says these edits can take up to 3 days to go live, but it’s usually quicker than this.
Promote any sales or special offers
If you’re looking to generate sales via promotions such as discount, voucher codes or sales etc, then add this to the ‘offers’ tab within the ‘posts’ section of your Google business listing. You can add images, a description, coupon code and an external url link to promote your ofer.
For businesses that are adapting their offering
Many retailers such as restaurants, pubs and bars are adapting their offerings to continue business. For example, if your business has started offering takeouts, collections and deliveries then this can be shown within your Google Business listing.
To show that you do takeouts, go to the category section and add this category to your listing.
If you have a takeout menu, this can be added to the ‘menu’ part of your listing. Create a new section such as ‘takeout menu’ and add your dishes to the menu. You can also add photos of your menu to the section.
To make customers aware that you do deliveries and takeout services, add them as dining options in the ‘attributes’ section.
Our advice is simple – don’t stop marketing your retail business, just adapt to the current climate and approach it in different ways.
Please phone 01633 449885 or email hello@allianceagency.co.uk. We have the ability to work remotely so should we have to close the office during this period, we will still be operating.
