Google is enhancing its shopping tools to assist users in both online and in-store purchases, leveraging Google Lens, Maps, and Google Pay. The new updates aim to improve shopping experiences during the holiday season.
Google Lens, known for its visual search capabilities, now allows users to take pictures of products in physical stores to access insights such as reviews, price comparisons, and local inventory availability. This enhancement is part of Google’s strategy to extend its shopping ecosystem to the real world, offering seamless decision-making support for consumers.
The updated Google Lens leverages the power of Shopping Graph and Gemini AI models to provide detailed product information. For example, customers can photograph a toy in a store like Target to find reviews, check for similar products, or see if it’s available at a lower price from another retailer like Amazon or Walmart.
These features aim to simplify the shopping process by combining the immediacy of in-store shopping with the convenience of online research. Initially, this tool is focused on categories like beauty products, toys, and electronics and is supported by retailers such as Target, Macy’s, and Nordstrom.
Google’s VP of Consumer Shopping Product, Lilian Rincon, highlighted the increasing popularity of Google Lens, with 20 billion visual searches conducted monthly, 20% of which are shopping-related. The tool is available to U.S. users via the Google and Chrome apps on both Android and iOS, provided they have opted into location sharing.
By merging AI-powered insights with physical shopping, Google hopes to make in-store purchases more informed and confident for customers, especially during high-traffic shopping seasons like the holidays.
In addition to Lens updates, Google is introducing shopping features to Maps. Soon, users will be able to search for specific products, such as holiday sweaters, and locate nearby stores carrying those items. The feature will cover categories like home goods, electronics, clothing, and groceries. This enhancement is set to launch in the U.S. within weeks, further bridging the gap between physical and online retail by providing real-time local inventory visibility.
Google Pay is also receiving upgrades to support more flexible payment options. Building on its earlier integrations with Affirm and Zip, Google Pay now includes Afterpay and will soon add Klarna as a payment option. Additionally, Google plans to pilot a service aimed at reducing false fraud flags in transactions, which will help merchants process legitimate payments more efficiently. Together, these updates reinforce Google’s focus on providing an interconnected, user-friendly shopping and payment ecosystem across its platforms.
