E-Commerce

Google wants to bring more “inspiration” to shopping online

“People are starting to behave more online like they did in the physical world where you were shopping for exploration, not just to get to a purchase,” said its president of commerce.
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Google

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Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.

There are more than 1 billion shopping sessions on Google a day, but the company is thinking about IRL retail. In its own way, at least.

“People are starting to behave more online like they did in the physical world where you were shopping for exploration, not just to get to a purchase,” Bill Ready, president of commerce at Google, told Retail Brew.

  • About two-thirds of shoppers say they first start doing so online, he noted—no matter if they end up buying that Adidas bucket hat in store or off a website.

While e-comm has long solved “the buying part of the journey,” Ready sees its next phase focused on the experience of shopping—think about those trips to the mall where you just wandered from window to window.

It’s also where he thinks Google, with its commerce ambitions, can provide “more opportunity for inspiration.”

Imagine that: This week, the company built on that mission by announcing it’s adding its 3D and AR experience to search. Merchants that have those images will soon be able to surface them right at the start.

  • Google first tested the try-on feature in beauty and has now extended it to home and garden.

“3D and AR will become the next indispensable staple,” Ready said, “and how shoppers will interact with brands and products digitally in the future.”

Google is also trying to ensure that retailers can quickly capture a sale once a shopper is inspired to buy.

  • The company announced a new checkout pilot to drive shoppers right to a retailer’s website—no steps in between. (Ready has long said that Google doesn’t want to be the retailer…)

+1: Searches for “near me in stock” are up more than 90% YoY, according to Google, so consumers have to be as fast as ever when they Add to Cart.—GT

Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know

Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.