Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) has announced a program called Shopping Actions for retailers, which it says has resulted in the shopping basket size of their customers increasing by 30 percent.
Google Shopping Actions
With this program, consumers can use voice shopping and get a universal cart when they shop across platforms and devices. And retailers can list their products in Google Search, Google Express shopping, and Google Assistant to use voice for shopping with Google Home.
The program is now live in the US, and it is open to all retailers. For small independent retailers looking to make themselves available across Google’s ecosystem, it can really pay off in local markets. Retailers in different industries who participated in the program saw the shopping basket size of their customers increase.
Retailers were seeing these higher numbers because of an end-to-end experience Shopping Actions is providing from search to purchase to shipping.
Surojit Chatterjee, Director of Product Management for Google Shopping, explained the need for this seamless integration on the Google Inside Adsense blog.
Chatterjee added, “It’s clear that people want helpful, personal and frictionless interactions that allow them to shop wherever and however they want — from making decisions on what to buy, to building baskets, to checking out more quickly than ever before. Put simply, they want an easier way to get their shopping tasks done.”
What Google Shopping Actions Offer
If you are a retailer and you participate in the Shopping Actions program, your products will show up across Google’s platforms.
In Google Assistant and Google Home devices, it will be available for voice shopping. Voice shopping is is becoming a particular;y popular trend, as Amazon’s Echo and Alexa seem to have a clear lead. In the blog post, Google said its own data has shown the term “where to buy” has grown more than 85 percent in the past two years. Not only are consumers using the term, but 44 percent of them use their voice-activated speaker to order products at a minimum of once per week.
The program also includes a shareable list, universal shopping cart, instant checkout, loyalty program for high-value customers, 1-click reordering option and saved payment credentials.
Benefit to Small Retailers
In addition to making your store and its products more available, the greatest benefit of Shopping Action for small retailers is use of a per-sale model. This means you only pay when someone actually buys something from you and not just for exposure. If your site has a great organic ranking, you won’t have to spend more on ad dollars (such as PPC campaigns) to benefit from the new program.
Image: Google