Google is losing big on ad revenues to Amazon and the reason is simple; the e-commerce giant is taking the world by storm when it comes to product sales online. India is a huge market for Amazon and Google does not want to go home with nothing when it comes to the burgeoning e-commerce market in India, that has always witnessed a steady rise over the years.
Google is planning to join hands with Flipkart and Paytm to launch its ‘Shopping’ tab in India very soon. Shopping tab is a very popular way through which Google earns ad revenues in the USA and Europe. When you are trying to buy a product, you search through Google and it lands you on its ‘Shopping’ tab which directs you to e-commerce websites. The Shopping tab gives you a product listing of the items you are looking for in all available e-commerce sites along with prices.
According to a report by Economic Times, Google has already spent several months to pilot this project in India and will be functional on its search engine soon. A more full-fledged service will be launched by the end of 2018 in India.
At the moment, Google is trying to collaborate with Flipkart, Paytm Mall, and Snapdeal to bring in the service. But we do not know yet if it will be a Google-fulfilled approach in India, which is similar to Amazon-fulfilled products on its website.
Google is trying to play a different game to get ad revenues through its Shopping tab this time in India. And that is, it will tap into small and medium enterprises or ‘kirana’ stores and handicraft shops in India for its Shopping tab. These enterprise owners do not necessarily have to list their products on e-commerce sites. But stores need to have an online presence, which will direct buyers to the page where they can buy the product.
The goal, here, is to gather customer data in India and understand shopping behavior. This is very akin to what Amazon did with junglee.com before embarking into e-commerce venture.
The Shopping tab is very similar to the ‘Image’ and ‘News’ tab on Google search engine. In India, when buyers are looking for something to buy online they directly go to e-commerce websites. Through Shopping tab, buyers will be able to view product listings and compare prices thereby. You can also sift through filters and look for specific and ‘detail’ informations.
Shops can plug into Google’s merchant centre and plug in and list their items for sale. The idea is to build an ecosystem of goods online on Google’s platform. With around 80 million online shoppers in India, the e-commerce market is a giant one to explore.
