According to recent reports, the major search engine Google could be making new moves into the shopping sector with a ‘buy now’ button.
The initiative, which could see the firm taking away traffic from established online retailer Amazon, would also include a two-day shipping option.
At the moment, if consumers click on the items that appear in the news feed for Google Shopping, they will be directed directly to the retail site that is supplying the link. However, if the search firm does install the one-click purchasing buttons, many shoppers could instead to choose right from Google’s page.
While this would make for a more convenient, swifter service for online shoppers using the search engine, it could also be a way for Google to round out its web options.
According to recent studies, the firm is losing out to other sites such as Amazon, as well as Pinterest, when it comes to consumers looking at items for buying. The independent research company Forrester found that in Q3, around 39% of American shoppers began their online search for items on Amazon, compared to only 11% on Google.
This is a big change from the situation in 2009, when 24% of US consumers took to search engines over the online retailer, which only saw 18% of the research market.
In fact, Eric Schmidt, Google’s chairman, stated in a speech earlier this year that Amazon was now the firm’s “biggest search competitor”. By keeping shoppers on its news feeds, however, it could help to reduce the difference between the two.
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