Google is launching a new feature called Google Local Shopping that will steer Internet shoppers towards small, registered shops in their area that have the products customers are shopping for in stock. There are some hoops to jump through, but this could be a huge addition for core retailers if played correctly. The feature will track your stock and when a customer in your area searches for that specific item, it will pop up for them and give them your store’s info as shown above.
According to Google:
Over the past year, we’ve been working with leading retailers across the country to help shoppers find and buy products that are in stock nearby. Mobile Product Search users can already search product availability at stores across the country, and we may also show this information in Google.com ads and in the Google Shopper application for Android.
If you’re interested in taking part in this beta, make sure you’re submitting high-quality, complete product data to Google Product Search and that you have submitted and verified a store listings feed to Google Places. Then, please review our Help Center and fill out the Google Local Shopping Interest Form. Because of the overwhelming interest in the program to date, we can’t guarantee everyone a response, but we will reach out to those retailers who are a good fit for this feature.
But back to the aforementioned hoops, here’s what you need to do to get yourself signed up:
Step 1: Create a Google Merchant Center account for your online product listings. Learn more about how to create an account. If you already have an account and an active data feed, proceed to Step 3.
Step 2: Create an online product listing feed and upload it to your account. Learn more about how to create and submit a data feed.
Step 3: Apply for a separate Merchant Center account for your local product listings. Once Google confirm that your business qualifies, it will email you an invitation link within three business days to a new Merchant Center account created for your Local Shopping data.
Step 4: Once you accept its terms, you will be presented with the General Settings page. Simply click on Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
Step 5: On the Local shopping page in your account, click on the checkbox, Enable local shopping. When you visit the Data feeds page and click on the New data feed button, you will now see three new options called Business Listings, Local Products, and Price-Quantity appear under the Type pull-down menu.
This definitely will take some effort on the front end, but in a saturated world, it seems like a good opportunity to give tech-savvy shop owners a leg up.
We’re opening up the comment boards on this one to get your thoughts on how it can benefit your shop and any tips you have on getting signed up.
