Google from Alphabet Inc. redesigned its shopping website to better match consumers with storefronts, seeking to differentiate the platform from e-commerce sites such as Amazon.com Inc. The updated shopping experience mostly revolves around scrollable feeds similar to a social media app. The new home page will display a personalized feed of products, reviews and short auto-play videos from Google’s YouTube. The deals page will host a similar curated summary of discounted items.
Google Shopping searches will return AI-generated annotations that explain important factors to consider for a particular item, such as the type of material a jacket is made of for wet climates. The features will initially be available in the US.
The redesign is the company’s latest move to keep users on Google’s platform longer as they research anything from recipes to flights, rather than immediately redirecting them to external websites. In May, the company introduced AI previews, which summarize the content of search results, a feature that some critics argue could reduce clicks to websites that generate ad revenue from visits.
Alphabet shares were up less than 1% at $165.79 at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday in New York. Shares have jumped 18% this year through Monday’s close.
Unlike the digital marketplaces of fellow tech giants Amazon and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Google Shopping doesn’t sell or ship products; it just shows customers where they can buy items.
“We see ourselves playing a different role” than Amazon, Maria Renz, Google’s vice president and general manager of commerce, said in an interview before the announcement. “Google has always been focused on promoting a healthy ecosystem.”
Shoppers can fully research a potential purchase without leaving Google’s various sites — from browsing suggested items on Google Shopping to watching product review videos on YouTube to locating brick-and-mortar retailers on Google Maps.
But the company’s suite of tightly integrated products could be at risk. After a landmark antitrust ruling found that Google illegally monopolized the search market, the US Justice Department is considering a breakup that could separate major parts of the company’s portfolio, including the Chrome web browser and the Android operating system.
Google has not considered directly challenging the e-commerce storefront by handling payments and shipping within Google Shopping, executives said.
“Because we don’t have inventory, we don’t take payments, we don’t ship anything — we also don’t try to maximize profit per product,” Sean Scott, vice president and general manager of consumer shopping at Google, said in an interview. Scott calls this a “unique advantage.”
As for the ability to check out and pay on Google Shopping, “I would never say never,” Scott said. “We’re just trying to help connect consumers with retailers.”
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