Google Predicts, Personalizes AI Shopping Experience With Makeover Before Holidays

Google has unveiled the biggest change to its Shopping platform with the introduction of personalized experiences and ad deals powered by generative artificial intelligence (GAI).

By combining Shopping Graph, a data set of about 45 billion listings that continually updates, with Gemini AI models, technology personalizes experiences through AI search to serve custom-picked products, personalized shopping feeds for inspiration, and a deals page to find the lowest prices.

Technology identifies the products to compare and serves related information from publisher sites, where consumers can get more data by clicking on a link, which sends new traffic to publishers.

The focus on the most up-to-date price may sound simple, but when a platform has 45 billion products it can surface, the task is a complex one, Lilian Rincon, vice president of consumer shopping product at Google, told reporters during a briefing.

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Google introduced an ad unit in an updated deals page, as price transparency have become a greater focus for consumers.

About 70% of shoppers say saving money is a significant and consistent need. Some 60% of U.S. consumers say making the correct decisions requires more effort than before, and more than two-thirds seek advice from friends and family.

People shop across Google about 1 billion times daily. Unlike Amazon, Google does not take payments, carry inventory or ship products.

“My husband is super into Matcha tea, so I’m looking for a Matcha tea kettle,” she said during a live demonstration.

From the search, an AI module serves information on tea kettles specific for use to make the Matcha tea, an electric kettle that provides precise temperature control and have a gooseneck spout for slow pouring.

Unlike the traditional shopping tab, this one provides top recommendations for the best products across the web. 

A list of sources appear that compares pricing and links to several options. The links send search traffic to retailers from Google Shopping as well as to articles on publisher sites that could provide more information to consumers before making a purchase.

"This will be new traffic for content publishers," Rincon said, adding that it highlights content publishers in a way that had not been done previously. “We hope it will be helpful as people shop.”

Google hopes it will make prices more competitive online, she added. Consumers have recognized anecdotally that online prices sometimes are more competitive than one-stop shopping. There is a shopping guide, as well as personalized product suggestions.

Surfacing more personalized information in search feeds could help to reduce returns.

The U.S. retail industry lost $743 billion to returns in 2023 -- down 9% vs. the prior year, according to the National Retail Federation.

Online sales saw a higher rate, with 17.6% or $247 billion of merchandise purchased online returned.  

The feed served in Google Shopping considers historic, personalized searches, along with tending items, and shopping videos. Consumers can like or dislike products “in case we get it wrong,” Rincon said.

 

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