July 25, 2020

Is Google going directly after Amazon? Watch out Amazon. Google is eliminating the fees it charges retailers to let people buy directly through the Google Shopping service. This is the latest in a series of moves the company has made to make it easier and cheaper for retailers to get products in front of millions of people who use it. Coincidentally, this happens to coincide with rising complaints from some small businesses that Amazon is squeezing them for more fees.

Google going directly after Amazon

Google is nowhere near Amazon. According to Marketplace Pulse, Google Shopping has 3,700 stores while Amazon has 3 million active sellers. However, Google’s new shopping push comes at a time of complaints by Amazon sellers. As much as 40 percent of sales generated by third-party merchants on Amazon goes to Amazon. That includes warehouse storage fees and ads that push their products higher in product search results.

Google makes it easier and offers free product listings

Google is the world’s number one search engine. However, almost half of Americans start looking for things to buy on Amazon while only 22 percent start on Google, according to a survey from research firm CivicScience. In the past, retailers had to buy ads to list their products on Google Shopping. The seller then had to pay Google a commission of as much as 12 percent of the transaction. Nowadays Google offers this service for free and is starting to show free product listings directly in the main search results.

Many small businesses forced to sell online

COVID-19 lockdowns has forced many small businesses to sell online. Searchers who want to support local or small businesses can add filters to find these types of merchants. Google has also made it easy for merchants by using the same format as Amazon.Google’s goal is to make it as easy and affordable as possible for businesses to sell online. They have also announced integrations with Shopify Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc. to help merchants manage their inventory and sell directly on Google.The author, Carolina Macedo, is Project Coordinator of Marketing Keys.

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July 25, 2020

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