Everything you need to know about the new Google Shopping Actions

What is Google Shopping Actions and what are the benefits for retailers?

Competition in e-commerce is growing. The online retail market leader, Amazon, continues to grow and increase its profits, so Google, in an attempt to keep up and better position itself against its main rival, has announced the launch of a new shopping service called Google Shopping Actions. This innovative system will allow retailers to display their products in Google searches and offer a more comprehensive customer experience, ranging from search to purchase and shipping.

What Google Shopping Actions offers

Google Shopping Actions allows listed products to appear across all Google platforms, including the increasingly popular smart home ecosystem of Google Assistant and Google Home for voice shopping. In fact, according to the Mountain View giant, since the launch of the Google Home Mini and Home Max on October 19 of last year, a device has been sold every second. This is a truly impressive figure considering it's something new, limited to a few countries, and arguably still in development. Returning to the topic of Google Shopping Actions , we see how, thanks to its features, the future of e-commerce could take a rather unexpected turn. Some of its most important functions are:

• Shared lists with saved payment credentials, allowing customers to purchase products from multiple devices.
• Google Assistant with Voice Shopping, which offers customers a hands-free, voice-powered shopping experience.
• Universal shopping cart, to merge purchases from mobile, desktop, and even Google Home devices.
• Instant checkout, 1-click reordering, and personalized recommendations at the most likely moment to purchase.
• Loyalty program for high-value customers.

Benefits for small retailers

In addition to making stores and products more visible, the biggest advantage Google Shopping Actions offers small retailers is the sales model. Shopping Actions uses a pay-per-sale model, meaning the retailer only pays Google a portion of each actual sale through the system. Although the rates have not yet been announced, they are expected to be very similar to those of Amazon. Businesses of any size can participate in the system; in fact, a specific turnover is not required as long as they sell products from the categories included in the program: household goods, kitchen and bathroom, electronics, health and beauty, pet supplies, sporting goods, toys, clothing, food, etc. Google Shopping Actions appear within the advertising and sponsored products section on the Google Search and Google Shopping pages, so organic results are not affected. So far, the sales system is only available in the United States, where retailers participating in the pilot program (Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Costco Wholesale, among others) saw their customers' average shopping cart size increase by 30%. The company has not yet announced a launch date for Spain and the rest of the world, but according to the latest news, it is expected to be very soon. If you'd like to learn about this and other Google news , be sure to visit our blog to stay informed at all times.