Marketing Digest

Google May Introduce “Buy Now” Button; Competes With Amazon

Google Might Challenge Amazon with “Buy Now” Button & Two-day Shipping

According to recent reports, Google is looking to develop its E-commerce department by challenging its biggest competitor, Amazon. The Wall Street Journal says that the company is reportedly courting the idea of including a “Buy Now” button next to product-related search results. This would simplify purchasing from the Google Shopping site and would rival Amazon’s “one-click ordering” feature.

Third party retailers will provide the stocks for Google Shopping, as opposed to Google investing in warehouses (like Amazon). But the bigger picture shows that Google is more focused on keeping potential customers searching for products—and buying them—within Google Shopping rather than Amazon.

With Google currently sending users to product pages for purchases in their search results, the “Buy Now” button would keep them on a Google page by not only providing them with the option to purchase something right away, but also supplying them with the relevant product information they would need.

To further compete with Amazon, Google will reportedly also offer a free two-day shipping option for products ordered from selected retailers through Google Shopping. Similar to Amazon Prime, users can subscribe to the service, which will guarantee them free shipping for a year. With Amazon Prime currently priced at $99 a year for customers, Google could potentially offer its service at a lower cost.

Amazon has long been considered one of the most functional and diverse online shopping portals, which explains why so many shoppers prefer to search for and purchase products on the site. According to the Wall Street Journal, Forrester states that three years ago, 24% of product searches came from search engines like Google, while 18% came from Amazon. This year, however, 39% of product searches come from Amazon, while search engines only account for 11%.

With such a significant shift in consumer preference, it’s no wonder that Google would want to regain some of its previous market share by aiming to make its services just as, if not more streamlined and organized, than Amazon.

As of press time, Google has made no official statement regarding the Wall Street Journal’s report.

If reports are confirmed, what do you think are Google’s chances of competing with Amazon? Would you use Google’s services or would you stick with Amazon?

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