According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Google’s gearing up to enter the mobile commerce game. The search giant will begin showing buy buttons in mobile search pages which will redirect clickers to Google’s own product page where the purchase can be configured and even completed using stored payment information.
Google’s reportedly working with a small number of pilot retailers including Macy’s and buttons will appear with a small percentage of commercial search traffic. Though the product may be fulfilled by retailers, Google will own the landing page and checkout experience.
What Google entering mobile commerce means to merchants
While this could be an exciting new ad format and customer acquisition tactic for retailers, and though it affects only paid search results, it’s a major threat to a brand’s relationship with its customer. Handing over customer experience to Google eliminates the ability to cross-sell, upsell, surprise and delight and build an email or social list to remarket to.
