Google Shopping Actions (Buy with Google): Google’s marketplace

Google Shopping Actions was created following two distinct observations: 

• The rise in searches concerning retailers on Google Search (+85% of requests such as “where to buy this product?”). 
• The fact that online visitors pursue their purchasing process on Amazon after having searched for information via Google (56% of consumers use Google as a starting point for their purchase).

Google Shopping Actions (Buy with Google) is therefore a response to Amazon.

From Google Shopping to Google Shopping Actions (Buy with Google)

At first, we had Google Shopping. This price comparison platform evolved over time into a marketplace. In 2012, the name change (switching from Google Product Search to Google Shopping) allowed for the business model to be transformed: advertisers had to pay to use the platform, based on a cost-per-click or cost-per-mille model. Google Shopping became so successful that its users doubled between 2017 and 2018 (over the Christmas holidays).

With Google Shopping Actions, the Mountain View company took stock of the changes in consumers’ behaviours. They are now more demanding, and more impatient: they are looking for the smoothest purchasing experience possible, and this is why they massively adopted Amazon.

An ecosystem revolving around purchasing experience

Google Shopping Actions’ strength lies in its verticality: the whole purchasing process is done entirely through Google, from the search phase to payment. An online visitor can therefore find a product, read about it, compare it and pay for it without ever leaving Google’s ecosystem. Based on a text or voice search, users can add products from various Google platforms to a universal basket, then finalise payment through Google Pay. 

This comprehensive experience enables Google to keep the consumer in its own channel, and have them move naturally from browsing to decision-making.