As Amazon continues to make gains in e-commerce market shares — it was responsible for 44% of all U.S. e-commerce sales in 2017, according to data from One Click Retail, an e-commerce analytics provider — Google wants to convert product searches on its platform into sales.
To do this, the technology giant will team up with retailers through a new program called Shopping Actions. The idea came from Google’s mobile search data, which, it said, reflects current consumer shopping patterns. Mobile searches asking “where to buy” a particular produce went up 85% in the past two years. The tech giant also found that 44% of people using their voice-activated speaker (Google’s smart assistant or Amazon’s Alexa) weekly reported using the device to order products they need.
Shopping Actions will make it easier for customers of participating retailers to buy products across Google, using Google Assistant’s voice-activated search, traditional Google search and Google Express, a shopping app that links users to several different retail stores on one platform.
When a retailer joins Shopping Actions, the store’s products appear on all three at no initial cost. Users add items to a virtual shopping cart and check out instantly with a saved payment method.
Early adopters include large companies such as Target, Wal-Mart and Costco, but the platform is open to retailers of all sizes. It uses a pay-per-sale model, so Google receives a portion of each sale. It’s unclear what percentage Google receives.
“I think [Google’s program] is going to be very beneficial to people in our industry,” said Ted Lawrence, corporate retail category manager at PoolCorp, the national distributor based in Covington, La.
Lawrence urges retailers to remember that online sales are about the shopper’s time. Consumers, particularly millennials, like the convenience of online shopping but still like to do business and interact with brands they trust. Pool stores can position themselves well if they embrace market trends, many believe.
For small and mid-size retailers, having an online component allows customers to interact with the brand in the way they want, and Google’s program offers another channel, Lawrence said.
The prospect of diverting sales from Amazon is compelling: Pool and spa supplies comprised $250 million in first-party sales on the website, said Nathan Rigby, vice president of sales and marketing at One Click Retail.
While the benefits for big-box stores seem clear, some industry members have reservations as to whether the new program will help or hurt smaller retailers.
One retailer asks Google’s program just constitutes more competition. “It’s a little disconcerting, because it sounds like we’re going to have multiple Amazon-type beasts to fight against,” said Jennifer Clements, director of business development at Pla-Mor Pools and APSP Retail Council chair.
One thing pool retailers agree on is that e-commerce is here to stay.
“We’re not going to compete against the internet, so how do we use it to our advantage?” said Wendy L. Purser, owner of Hampstead Pool, Spa & Patio. She’s unsure of how Google’s new program will impact smaller stores, but she believes retailers today need some type of e-commerce.
Small stores that aren’t yet ready for an e-commerce platform can start branching out into the online marketplace by growing a social media presence. Even making yourself virtually available through social media messaging capabilities allows customers to ask questions on their time without a trip to the store. After answering a product inquiry, “we executed a sale via Facebook messenger,” Wachowski said.
