Google readying "Shopping Actions" program to help retailers take on Amazon

Google is said to be readying a new program to help consumers decide where to shop. According to Reuters, Google is teaming up with Target, Walmart, Home Depot, and others to make “Shopping Actions” a reality.

The new program, which would work across Google Search, Google Express, and Google Assistant, will enable the aforementioned retailers to make their products more visible and easier to purchase. Apparently, Shopping Actions would provide a single shopping cart and an instant checkout to rival retail giant Amazon, which won’t be a part of the new initiative.

Typical Google searches for products, like “where can I buy/where can I find [product],” result in a sale via Amazon, analysts say. This program would apparently help other retailers pick up some of the purchases they’re missing out on, for which Google would take a commission — something which separates this program from the Google Ads program.

“We have taken a fundamentally different approach from the likes of Amazon because we see ourselves as an enabler of retail,” Daniel Alegre, Google’s president for retail and shopping, told Reuters. “We see ourselves as part of a solution for retailers to be able to drive better transactions.”

Amazon currently dominates the online shopping market in the West and is now cashing in on the growing “voice-assisted shopping” market thanks to the success of the Amazon Echo range. Through Shopping Actions, Google and others may have a greater opportunity to influence shoppers’ purchasing patterns and increase the competition in this area.

Ulta Beauty, which has already tested the program, said its average order value jumped 35 percent thanks to the partnership with Google.

Shopping Actions is launching in the U.S. and will eventually be open to retailers big and small, but we don’t yet know when. We’ll know doubt learn more soon: until then, give us your thoughts on the news in the comments.