Showing a business’s holiday hours isn’t the only way that Google is helping you out this holiday season.
Google has redesigned Google Shopping to make searching for and buying goods a simpler experience. The first way Google is doing this is by suggesting commonly searched for categories when a shopper entires a broad term. For example, a search for “Droids” would yield categories like collectibles, dolls, and so on. Or a search for “tricycles for kids” would show options based on features, brand, and price.
When you’ve got your choices narrowed down a bit, Google Shopping will help you browse specific products without having to flip between lots of web pages. You can tap a product and scroll through images, read some reviews, and view product info like the brand and age range. You can then either go deeper into that product or swipe on to the next.
And when you’ve finally settled on the exact product that you want, Google will show you more information about the product and who’s selling it. So you’ll see a quick glance at reviews, manufacturer details about the product, which merchants carry that product, and which ones actually have it in stock.
Finally, if you’re already out shopping, Google will help you find toys that are in stock near you. You can search for “R2-D2 toys near me” and see a list of nearby stores that carry that product, how far away the stores are, the store’s hours, and the price of the product that you’re interested in.
Lots of folks do their shopping from their phone now, and these Google Shopping improvements make it easy for people to do just that by cutting out the need to search for a product and jump between the websites of several different stores. The holidays can be pretty stressful, so anything that saves folks some time and frustration is welcome.
