Searching the e-store: Google Commerce Search now available to power retail websites

– Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced a new hosted enterprise search product, Google Commerce Search™, to power online retail stores and e-commerce websites with the speed and accuracy customers expect from Google™. While e-commerce has advanced significantly in the past 15 years, search technology has been a barrier to online retail growth. The average online retailer conversion rate is just three percent[1] but could potentially be five to ten times higher.[2] Commerce Search will help retail website stores reach their full potential as commercial hubs by improving the shopping experience for customers and the associated conversion rates for retailers.

Google Commerce Search brings retailers:

• Ultra-fast speed and accuracy, by leveraging Google’s platform to provide sub-second response time to customer queries. Commerce Search also uses proprietary ranking technology to analyze the products in each data feed and serve the most relevant match.  High quality, lightening-fast search increases conversions, as customers can quickly find specific products without having to navigate complex hierarchies on a website.

• E-commerce-specific search features, like parametric search, sorting, spell checker, stemming, and synonym suggestions. These features allow users to easily refine their searches. Retail-specific features like product promotions and product boost allow administrators to fine-tune their marketing approach in real-time and maximize conversions. The rich Commerce Search API also allows retailers to fully customize the search experience on their website.

• Deployment and scaling ease, because Commerce Search is hosted by Google and fully based in the cloud. Retailers can implement the tool very quickly and don’t need to worry about maintenance. Using the hosted Google platform also allows retailers to scale without concern for seasonal peaks or valleys.

• Integration with Google tools, like Google Analytics™ and Google Product Search™. Retailers can measure changing conversion rates through Commerce Search integration with Google Analytics on their website. E-commerce vendors benefit from providing a single feed of their catalog items to power Google Commerce Search for their website store and for indexing on Google Product Search. This helps retailers reduce costs and increase consistency across their inventory.

“We’re excited to bring Google Commerce Search to market in time for the holidays,” said Dave Girouard, president, Google Enterprise.  “To date the technology powering retail website stores has not kept pace with innovation in search. Google Commerce Search will help customers find accurate results extremely fast, to the benefit of retailers and customers alike.'”

Birkenstock USA has implemented Google Commerce Search on one of their online properties and found it made an immediate impact on their business.

“‘Google Commerce Search is improving user satisfaction — bounce rates have decreased and we’re seeing more return customers,’ said Jeff Kilmer, COO, Birkenstock USA. ‘The search results are ultra-fast, so customers more easily find the specific products they’re looking for. We deployed Google Commerce Search quickly and easily, and we’ve seen dramatic conversion improvement since implementation. It has also meant a better shopping experience for our customers, which is critical given the holiday season rush.”

Better searching means better conversions and a better online shopping experience. Learn more about Google Commerce Search at www.google.com/commercesearch.