Google to let users shop through Search, Assistant

Google announced on Monday the launch of a new program called “Shopping Actions” that gives users an option to shop products on its virtual assistant and Search with a universal cart from mobile, desktop, or even Google Home device. The program is open to retailers in the US. “Shopping Actions uses a pay-per-sale model, meaning you only pay when a sale actually takes place. Shopping Actions appear within the sponsored Shopping Unit on the Google Search page and on Google.com/Shopping,” the company wrote in a blog post late on Monday.

In exchange, retailers will reportedly give Google a cut of the profit from each purchase, which is different from the usual ad payments retailers made to the company for sponsored listings and will only pay when sales are made. “Early testing indicates that the participating retailers on an average see an increase in total conversions at a lower cost, compared to running Shopping ads alone. We have also seen an approximately 30 per cent average increase in basket size for merchants participating in ‘Shopping Actions’,” the company added.

Mobile searches for “where to buy” grew over 85 percent in the past two years while 44 percent of those who use their voice-activated speaker, at least weekly, say they use the device to order products they need like groceries, and household items at least once a week.