Google is beefing up its e-commerce (opens in new tab) options for businesses by striking deals with Shopify (opens in new tab) and Square (opens in new tab) in a bid to take on the might of Amazon.
The company announced that it was forging ahead with plans to offer more e-commerce selling tools (opens in new tab) to make it easier for merchants to boost their online presence.
Merchants using Square, GoDaddy (opens in new tab) and WooCommerce (opens in new tab) will now be able to sell their products much more easily, not only via Google search but also through Maps and YouTube. The move supplements Google’s previously announced intention to add the same level of convenience for Shopify merchants by adding its Shop Pay (opens in new tab) functionality as a payment options for consumers.
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Google hopes that its extended range of online shopping options will give consumers much more scope when it comes to buying goods online. Demand is certainly there, with analyst EMarketer estimating that the e-commerce marketplace (opens in new tab) is set to grow to a value of $4.89 trillion worldwide over the course of this year.
Online shopping
The search giant now seems to have a more cohesive e-commerce and online shopping strategy in place, having tried and largely failed to exploit its potential in previous years. Compounding the growth in online sales transactions (opens in new tab) has been Google’s decision to get rid of the fee that it used to charge merchants to list items within its shopping service.
Following the appointment of former PayPal executive Bill Ready, back at the beginning of 2020, his decision to kill off the fee has resulted in an 80% increase in merchants using the service.
The effect of the move has been most notable in the small and medium-sized business sectors. Although Google is reluctant to release official data, it has given the indication that consumers showing clear intent on using its shopping services has been logged more than a billion times a day.
Google’s closer ties with Shopify are also paying dividends, aided by the fact that the Canadian e-commerce specialist (opens in new tab) has 1.7 million merchant clients around the globe. It’s ShopPay feature has garnered more than $20 billion in merchandise value alone since 2017. Shopify functionality is also now more immersed within the Google Cloud (opens in new tab) environment.
Meanwhile, and despite the scaling-up of Google’s e-commerce onslaught, Amazon (opens in new tab) continues to grow its third-party seller and ads business. Even though the huge online shopping venture riles many merchants with its pricing and behavior, the company’s online shopping empire continues to be the go-to destination for many consumers. However, all that may be about to change albeit rather slowly.
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- Via: Bloomberg (opens in new tab)
