Google unveils shopping search features to let users compare prices easily

The experience will also be available as a Progressive Web App (PWA) for users with entry level phones, said Google

Google on Thursday said it launched shopping search features to make the experience more personal and allow users to easily filter through offers, review prices from multiple retailers and find the products they are looking for.

The new experience is available via a "Shopping" home page, shopping tab in Google search and style search in Google Lens, an image recognition mobile app, Google said.

"More than 40 million Indians are coming online every year, and search is an integral part of their online journey," Surojit Chatterjee, Vice President - Product Management, Google said.

"From seasoned desktop shoppers to first-time users with entry-level smartphones, we hope this new shopping experience will make finding what people are looking for just a little bit easier," Chatterjee said.

The new "Shopping" home page is a made-to-browse destination for shoppers to search across multiple product categories, and browse products from thousands of retailers.

To make the shopping experience richer, Google said it added smart features like price drops and a collection of the most popular products on the search engine.

The experience will also be available as a Progressive Web App (PWA) for users with entry level phones, Google said.

The "Shopping Tab" in Google Search will allow users to post queries in Hindi and English and show product lists, local store inventory and review prices from across multiple retailers.

Finally, "Style Search" in Google Lens is an all-new visual approach to find products such as clothes, furniture and home decor by simply pointing the Lens app.

Google also announced the availability of the Merchant Centre in Hindi starting Thursday, besides English.

For retailers, Merchant Centre offers the place to upload store and product data for Shopping ads.

So far, the Merchant Centre has been only available in English.

Retailers can now also use Merchant Centre to upload product details so they can appear across Google, without paying for ad campaigns, Google said.

"With this launch, our aim is to support the entire retail ecosystem, from shopping sites and large retailers to small local shops, and give them the tools, technology and scale to thrive in today's digital economy," Chatterjee said.