Google brings smart search to eCommerce websites with its new fully managed search tool, Google Retail Search. This eCommerce product search feature is now built into eCommerce websites to provide Google-quality search results from broad search queries and help online retailers reduce their search abandonment, a term referring to the percentage of users who visit a website but leave without adding anything to their cart or purchasing a product.
eCommerce search abandonment is a familiar and frustrating issue for those selling on Amazon, Walmart Marketplace and other eCommerce websites. According to a Harris Poll research, approximately 76 percent of U.S. consumers leave a retail website because of unsuccessful eCommerce product search results, with 48 percent purchasing the item elsewhere. What’s more, 52 percent said they typically abandon their carts if there’s one item they can’t find in an eCommerce store.
The consumers’ persistent unfavorable online experiences result in a $300 billion eCommerce search abandonment problem for U.S. retailers every year. This underpins the need to provide high-quality brand experiences for shoppers in the eCommerce product discovery phase and minimize the likelihood of them leaving your store. And this is why Google Retail Search was developed.
Selling on Amazon or other eCommerce platforms? Get the low down on Google Retail Search and its importance to your eCommerce marketing strategy.
The Role of Google Retail Search in Addressing the Problem on Most eCommerce Product Search Engines
Today’s eCommerce sites offer virtually anything imaginable for sale. From home appliances and apparel to houses and movies and everything in between, almost anything can be bought with a click of a button. The problem lies in ensuring consumers find exactly the item they want to buy and standing out from hundreds, if not thousands, of Amazon ads.
Whether you’re selling on Amazon, your online store or other product discovery platform, your eCommerce product search functionality should be seamless. No stumbling through irrelevant search results or category landing pages – just fast, accurate eCommerce search results that give consumers precisely what they want even if they spelled an item wrong or didn’t use the exact words.
THE PROBLEM: Despite leveraging advanced technology to understand user preferences and surface personalized product recommendations, most eCommerce product search engines built on online stores are not designed to provide a uniquely personal eCommerce search experience.
For instance, search for a particular book and get back a list of entirely unrelated work. Try to find a “soda cooler” and get back hundreds of relevant eCommerce product search results, but search for a different term like “soda chiller,” and some product discovery platform delivers not even one.
Conduct the same exercise on a popular eCommerce product discovery channel like Google or Amazon, and the experience is quite different.
Big market players like Amazon improved their search engines to deliver relevant search results based on user intent. This is good news for those selling or advertising on Amazon. However, most retailers are stuck with their default eCommerce product search engine, impeding their customers’ shopping journey.
With the Google Retail Search, online sellers can now leverage Google-quality search capabilities in their digital properties to enhance customer shopping experiences right at the product discovery phase.
How Google Retail Search Aids the eCommerce Product Discovery Process
Google Retail Search is one of Google Cloud’s product discovery solutions that allow eCommerce property owners to integrate data into existing tools, such as Google Analytics 360, BigQuery and Tag Manager, to monitor search performance.
Built on Google’s decades of search experience, Retail Search allows businesses to create customer-focused search experiences by understanding consumers’ intent and mapping it to product inventory. It’s a fully customizable solution with features such as auto-complete, relevant promotions and personalized results, making eCommerce product discovery easier for consumers.
Google Retail Search’s capabilities include:
• Advanced Query Understanding – A more accurate understanding of user intent that produces more pertinent eCommerce product search results.
• Optimized Results – Built upon user interaction, indexing, retrieval and ranking models to achieve business goals.
• Semantic Search – Interprets search intent based on factors such as user search history, location and spelling variations to deliver quality search results.
• Advanced Security and Privacy – Strong security and privacy controls in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to protect retailer data. This means you can ensure your data is secure and yours alone.
• Vision Product Search – Machine learning-powered object recognition capabilities that enable product image searches and deliver relevant product recommendations.
Amazon Search Engine vs. Google Retail Search
With better eCommerce search results, Google seeks to help retailers divert some business from Amazon. So what’s the difference between the Amazon search engine and Google Retail Search?
If you’re selling or advertising on Amazon, you’re probably aware that Amazon has a proprietary search engine called Amazon A10 (previously known as Amazon A9). At its core, Amazon’s search algorithm is similar to Google’s. It analyzes search queries for keywords and observes historical traffic patterns to match customer intent with pertinent products and provide the best possible Amazon shopping experience.
However, unlike Google Retail Search, Amazon’s search feature is exclusively available on the platform. Additionally, since Amazon hosts different brands and sellers, the Amazon A10 algorithm analyzes several factors to determine which products appear at the top of search results, including:
• Keywords
• Sales conversions
• Customer reviews
• Performance history
• Delivery time
• Price
Further, a huge part of making sales on Amazon is having a targeted Amazon advertising strategy and ranking high in search results. To get the most out of your Amazon SEO and Amazon advertising strategy, you need to:
• Optimize your listings
• Build better product detail pages
• Ensure your product images meet Amazon’s image requirements
• Optimize your keyword strategy
• Get good pricing rules in place
Marketing and advertising on Amazon are all about competing for higher search rankings. With more than two-thirds of all Amazon product clicks taking place on the first page of search results, you need to improve your keyword targeting capabilities and prioritize your customers’ Amazon shopping experience to ensure you stay on top of search results.
The good thing about Google Retail Search is you don’t have to compete in Amazon’s saturated marketplace. By maintaining a positive overall customer experience at your eCommerce website, you can increase customer loyalty and engagement levels.
Get Profitable Retail Marketing Results With Google Retail Search
Many retailers today are making strides online by tapping into Google Retail Search. Two recent examples are American chain department stores Macy’s and IKEA.
Since gaining a deeper understanding of its customers’ needs and delivering results seamlessly, Macy’s has seen improved click-through rates (CTRs) and revenue per visit thanks to Retail Search. Meanwhile, IKEA retail increased its global average order value by 2 percent with recommendation AI.
Evidently, search is vital for positive shopping experiences, making search engine optimization (SEO) a necessary measure for improved eCommerce SEO strategy results. Recent tests by the Google Cloud Retail Search found that sellers who prioritize their eCommerce SEO strategy and make it easy for customers to find what they’re looking for see an increase in conversion rates and revenue per visit.
Take advantage of Retail Search’s hyper-relevant recommendations and deliver superior customer experiences.
Need help with your Amazon ads and eCommerce marketing strategy? Or are you looking for strategic Amazon marketing services to provide your customers with the best possible Amazon shopping experience? Whichever retail marketing solution you need, Thrive Internet Marketing Agency is here to help.
Our eCommerce marketing company offers a suite of retail marketing services to help you tap into the power of AI-enabled tools on the cloud. Whether you need eCommerce PPC, SEO or Amazon marketing services, our digital marketing agency covers all the bases.
Schedule a consultation with us to find out how we can help you adapt to new technologies and improve your eCommerce and Amazon advertising strategy.
