There have been a number of exciting updates to Google Lens and Google Maps, helping shoppers to gain more product insight as they browse in-store, quickly find products locally using Google Maps, and pay securely with more payment options.
These features are designed to make shopping faster, easier, and more secure, whilst connecting online and in-store shopping experiences. For ecommerce brands that also sell products in physical stores, adding convenience to the customer journey is a key way to optimize for sales and revenue, on top of direct response sales channels.
How does Google Lens work?
Google Lens is an AI-driven app that allows users to search using an image instead of a keyword. It’s great for identifying objects and products, which is why this tool lends itself so well to shopping. It’s a handy tool for many different reasons that go beyond just shopping, however performing a Google Lens shopping search is a really effective way to find products.
For instance, you may spot someone wearing a pair of shoes or a bag that you like, or it may be a piece of furniture or tableware at a restaurant, or even a screenshot of something from Instagram or an article.
In all cases, snapping a photo and uploading it to Google Lens will provide search results of the exact item of interest, or at the very least, alternative products that look similar.
In the image below, the Google Lens search is of a brown cardigan and the search results the exact cardigan from Menswear brand Percival for £137. This offers a really smooth way to find a product and then purchase it.
The beauty of Google Lens shopping is its ability to find alternative products that are similar and in the above example, both H&M and Endource sell similar brown cardigans for a fraction of the cost.
On top of that, Google Lens can also understand the context of an object, going beyond simply showing things that look the same by enriching the search through identifying nearby stores, cities and sizes amongst other things.
Google continues to update Google Lens
It’s been announced that upgrades to Google Lens and Google Maps are taking place, something that Google puts down to major advancements in AI image recognition technology. These advancements have made it possible for Google Lens to check prices and inventory, at the same time as surfacing products in a Google Shopping image search.
“The latest update is powered by the Shopping Graph's 45 billion+ product listings, in-stock inventory data from a range of retailers and our Gemini models to bring you an entirely new way to shop in-store.” - Lilian Rincon, VP Product Management
This comes as good news to consumers and retailers and we don’t think it’s going to end here, with more updates likely to follow.
3 updates to optimize online and in-store shopping
The recent upgrades to Google Lens take what we already know and love about the app further, helping to close the gap between online shopping and in-store shopping. And it makes sense – why not use a smartphone to complement real life shopping, since 96% of the US and 93% of the UK own a smartphone.
Where Google Lens shopping has been highly effective at finding products online, it’s about to be easier than ever to find products in physical stores as well.
1. Get more product insights with Google Lens
Google Lens is now the ultimate in-store shopping assistant. The latest update tailors the app to shopping in physical stores, which will come as a delight to the 20% of Google Lens searches that are already shopping-focused.
By snapping a quick picture of an item in-store, shoppers can get instant access to detailed product insights, such as reviews, availability, sizing, and price comparisons.
For example, a shopper browsing toys whilst they are in a Target store can quickly check reviews online to make sure the item lives up to expectations and that it’s of high quality. Or, the consumer is able to check to see if the product is cheaper with a different retailer, such as Amazon or Walmart.
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This upgrade is designed to help shoppers across all kinds of sectors, from beauty and clothing, to toys and electronics. However, the one thing all of them have in common is the benefit it brings shoppers.
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Get faster assistance when using Google Lens for shopping
In-store shopping has the potential for being much more efficient. Rather than spending time finding a sales assistant and waiting for them to check details for you, or manually looking up product details online, you can instantly access all the information you need with just a photo and your smartphone. For Gameboy geeks that used to play Pokemon, it’s given me pokedex vibes, but for shopping.
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Find the best deal online before committing to a purchase
Knowing that multiple retailers stock a particular product in your city, but not knowing where it’s most competitively priced is frustrating. Previously, visiting each shop would have been the only way to check, or visiting each website and manually checking in-store availability. However, this update changes the landscape. Price comparisons are no longer limited to online shopping.
Google Lens enables you to check if a product is available at a better price from other retailers, on the go and from a store. This feature empowers shoppers to purchase the best deal – something that’s important to consumers now more than ever given how much cost of living has risen in recent times.
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Greater consumer confidence and peace of mind
One of the biggest challenges in shopping is uncertainty surrounding the quality of a product or the fairness of a price. Google Lens eliminates this worry by giving consumers access to reviews, similar product suggestions, and real-time inventory data.
This transparency helps shoppers make better informed purchase decisions, leading to happier and more confident shopping, and satisfied customers.
2. Find products using Google Maps
Now for Google Maps news – it’s clear that Google Maps isn't just for directions anymore. The latest update helps shoppers find products locally, providing a boost to Local Inventory Ads, which has the potential to boost physical store sales and enhance the shopping experience for local consumers.
How exactly does this work? Users will now be able to search for products, including home goods, clothing and accessories, electronics, along with items from grocery stores and retailers, directly in Google Maps. They’ll then get up-to-date information and product insights, plus they’ll get in-store availability from nearby stores.
For merchants, this helps to facilitate product and store discoverability, which is vital in a saturated and highly competitive market. However, for consumers it helps confirm whether or not it’s worth making the trip to a nearby store in the first place. (We’ve all made that annoying journey out only to find they don’t have the product in stock).
For instance, the example below shows the level of insight a shopper has when searching for a product on Google Maps, in this case showing different stores that stock ‘knitted jumpers’ and whether these products are in stock.
Product search in Maps will be launching in the US first and following that, it’s expected to be launched elsewhere. This means that brands and consumers can expect product and store information to become even more detailed and insightful in the months ahead.
3. More checkout options and increased security
Another update has been to enhance checkout options, helping to make payments more flexible for consumers, but also more secure for both consumers and merchants. Both elements help to boost customer experience in relation to the checkout process.
To make payments more secure, Google's virtual card feature, which hides credit card numbers during online transactions, now supports Discover cards alongside existing partners like American Express and Capital One. This is a small update but it’ll benefit those that use Discover cards, adding a layer of security and protecting shoppers.
For merchants, new fraud detection tools have been developed to help prevent fraudulent transactions while ensuring legitimate purchases go through seamlessly – another win for ecommerce business.
These security updates of course benefit consumers, but they may go largely unnoticed. For consumers, expanded ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ integrations are being rolled out and this is something that shoppers will get an immediate benefit from.
Affirm and Zip were already available as ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ tools, and now the newly added Afterpay is available. It’s been announced that Klarna is coming in the near future as well.
These handy payment options provide greater flexibility for consumers, helping them to shop faster, buy items at crucial times, and plan in advance, something that many of us do during the holidays.
What this means for Ecommerce
Here are some practical takeaways for ecommerce businesses, particularly those that also sell their products locally in physical stores.
Bridge the gap between online and offline
The recent upgrades to Google Lens and Maps, with advanced in-store shopping capabilities, signal a significant shift for ecommerce. While online shopping remains essential, these updates highlight the growing need to close the gap between online and physical retail experiences.
Internally, this may require businesses to integrate and align their online and offline sales strategies. Keeping these operations separate is no longer a viable option in today’s hybrid shopping landscape.
Optimize product data
For ecommerce businesses, ensuring product data is accurate and high-quality across all online platforms, such as Google Shopping, is essential. This helps the technology function as intended, enabling it to find your products and display all the necessary details.
Key product attributes must be optimized, which includes Product Titles, Descriptions, Price, Product Category, etc. Google Shopping integration software is the most effective way to do this, tailoring and managing product attributes at scale. With DataFeedWatch, for example, it’s possible to apply rules, product exclusions, a/b test and easily apply custom labels to enormous catalogues across multiple feeds and sales channels.
For Google Lens shopping in particular, don’t forget to use high quality product images as well, something that should be non-negotiable in today’s world where visuals are such an important part of the consumer journey.
Use local inventory feeds
For those that sell their products in physical stores, using local inventory feeds that contain all of the necessary product information, such as availability, price, stock quantity, is vital. This will help you to tap into the increasing number of shoppers using Google’s tools to make decisions in-store.
Remember that each store location must have a unique store code in Google My Business for all of your stores to get visibility from local inventory feeds.
Get competitive
Finally, businesses must focus on their overall online presence to remain competitive. This includes all of what has already been mentioned – aligning online and offline operations, optimizing product data, and using local inventory feeds.
Beyond these essentials, consider offering competitive pricing and actively gather honest customer reviews. Both factors play a pivotal role in influencing purchasing decisions, whether online or in-store, making them a key consideration.