People are always looking for convenience when on the web and if you look at some of the MOST successful businesses online, you’ll notice they provide an easy way to do something. Simplicity has been the key to Apple’s success and they thrived in the market after adopting that philosophy. However, Apple isn’t the only one looking to make things easier for people and a prime example of this is Google. They continue to tweak their search results, displaying the MOST relevant, up to date information so people can simply click-through and find what they are looking for. This can be seen by the various updates they’ve made over the last few months. Search results have never been more precise, consistent, and keyword “targeted”. All of these improvements have lead to something even greater, which is the addition of a “Buy Now” button. Many of you will NOT agree but I think it’s a genius move for Google to be able to gain more of a market share in the product sales market.
Google announced they will be testing out this new strategy in the next few weeks and I think it will change the way we shop online, streamlining the searching process. Here is the information we’ve received so far…
The Concept
What Google plans is very simple and it involves altering the “sponsored listing” search results so you can buy directly from the search page. This will streamline the product search for everyone and make it easier for people to find what they are looking for and purchase. Searchers will be able to bypass additional pages and searches to find what they are looking for, which I think is very important. What usually happens is you’ll find a product and need to run an additional search to locate and purchase the product. In the process, you’ll lose the model number or the price might even change, which is stressful for people shopping online. However, this update is a more direct approach to shopping and it erases all the middle work you have to do in between.
Google has stated it’s a bold attempt to go against online retail giants like Amazon and I think they might be able to get the job done. Google already controls around 80% of the search market share and this means a higher chance of people simply purchasing through Google.
Again, they are simply in the testing process and will be making several tweaks throughout the months to perfect the concept.
What Are Your Thoughts?
After spending years online designing websites and working with clients in many different industries, I’m always looking for convenient ways to find tools, products, and services. I think it’s very important to get content and products in front of people because they have many choices available to them and it’s easy for them to jump ship. Google is definitely on the right track and I think the introduction of a “Buy Now” button is a great way to get people to products quickly and efficiently. However, you have to keep a few things in mind…
First, Google is a search engine and for them to be successful with this strategy, they can’t hinder the human search process. They have to ensure they keep providing relevant results and don’t let the “Buy Now” button get in the way of what’s important. Google has already announced they’ll be using this concept with only sponsored listings, which are normally at the top. Secondly, it’s all about relevance and getting people what they need so for this to work, they need to make sure it’s an EXACT formula. For example, what good will this system be if the products being displayed are completely different than the user search command? Google needs to make sure they provide relevant products based on the use search preference.
Third, once Google implements this system, it’s important they continue to test and tweak along the way. For example, if it’s a system that doesn’t work then they should remove it because it can interfere with user’s experience and if it does, they should tweak it making sure it works optimal.