Yesterday Google announced the much anticipated new Purchases on Google pilot. This pilot will make it possible for mobile users to make purchases directly from Google’s search engine results pages. Mobile users will be able to see a participating product advertised on Google, then directly click on the buy now button to make a purchase. Users will be taken to a retail branded product page hosted by Google, where you can actually purchase the product. Users are also invited to add credit card information to their google accounts, making checking out as simple as a click of a button.
Google has no interest in being a retailer, instead all product fulfillment will be handled through third-party retailers. Google hopes to make the mobile online shopping process easier without interfering with relationships between retailers and consumers. Google announced that they will be testing this pilot with a dozen or so retailers over the next few weeks, with plans to broaden the reach and retailers in the United States by late 2015, early 2016.