Google is rolling out integrations with more e-commerce platforms to enable retailers to show their products for free across Google, the company announced Thursday. It is also testing a new checkout experience that shows shoppers all the purchasing options offered by a merchant in one place.
Shopping partnerships with more platforms. Expanding on the Shopify integration it announced last week at I/O, Google has launched partnerships with WooCommerce, GoDaddy and Square to enable retailers on those platforms to list their products for free on Google.
Consolidated buying options. When customers discover a product on Google, they’ll be shown a summary of all the purchasing options offered by the seller (as shown below). This can include purchasing via the retailer’s site, picking up the item at a nearby location or Google’s native checkout flow.
The buying options screen is currently being tested in Google Search and the Shopping tab. The company plans to roll it out to YouTube and Image search later this year.
Why we care. These new partnerships mean that more merchants will be able to more easily show their products on Google for free. In addition to benefitting retailers, this move also plays into one of Google’s strengths: Helping users discover whatever they’re looking for. Shoppers use Google to research and compare products, but they don’t as frequently purchase via Google, so showing more relevant, organic product listings across Google can help solidify the search engine as a shopping tool for consumers.
On the other hand, the company’s new buying options for products on Google shows that it’s still trying to be a place where transactions occur, as opposed to just being a middleman for them. This could help Google increase its slice of the mobile e-commerce market because it makes it easier for shoppers to complete the purchase in the same place they’re doing their product research.
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