Can I get a show of hands from anyone who has ever shopped online? Counting has never been my strong suit, but that looks like roughly 100% of you. (Obviously, I can’t see your hands, but massive bonus points if you actually physically raised them.)
Online shopping has become as natural as breathing, or at least that’s what I tell myself when my credit card statement comes through. And I’m not the only one spending my time and money on online shopping.
Statistics show that retail eCommerce sales were expected to reach $6.3 trillion U.S. dollars worldwide in 2023 (source), and this is predicted to increase by a whopping 56% by 2026, bringing annual online retail sales to an expected 8.1 trillion dollars worldwide.
How does this relate to your business and Google Shopping? Good question.
Google Shopping for Consumers
From a customer’s perspective, Google Shopping provides a comparison platform where you can easily search for a product across numerous brands and websites.
You can see all of the most important details about a product in the search results, including product images, price, delivery, and star rating. You can also filter according to a range of options, such as material, size, price, and colour. If you see a product you’re interested in, you can click on the link and be taken directly to the product page of the website where you can buy it. This makes online shopping incredibly convenient (as if making purchases without having to leave your house wasn’t convenient enough), saving the consumer the hassle of having to sift through multiple websites to find the product they want.
And if consumers like using it, then businesses need to get themselves on Google Shopping.