Calling all SF Bay Area residents: help test our new local, same-day delivery service

We all rely on the web to turn our intentions into actions quickly and easily. From planning a spring break or a trip to the movies to finding the perfect gift for someone we love, the world is increasingly at our fingertips. And over the last few years, we've worked hard to bring the speed of the web to the real world. With Google Play, for example, you can now buy or rent books, movies and TV shows in seconds.

Today we're starting a new experiment, Google Shopping Express. It's a local delivery service that we hope will make it possible for you to get the items you order online the same day, and at a low cost. It's incredibly early days and so the service is only available to a small number of people in the Bay Area.

As a tester, you will be able to shop online, in a single place, from retailers such as Target, Walgreens, Staples, American Eagle and Toys“R”Us/Babies“R”Us -- along with locally distinct shops such as San Francisco’s Blue Bottle Coffee, and the Bay Area’s Palo Alto Toy & Sport and Raley’s Nob Hill Foods, and get your items delivered that same day. So hopefully, no more trips across town for simple errands.

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area (in the city of San Francisco, and the Peninsula from San Mateo to San Jose) and would like to help test this new initiative, please sign up here. We’re still working out our long-term pricing plan but early testers will get six months of free, unlimited same-day delivery. The pilot will expand as we work out the kinks, so please stay tuned.

Posted by Tom Fallows, Product Management Director, Google Shopping Express

A quicker, easier shopping experience with Google Shopper 3.2

Making informed shopping decisions should be easy, whether you're at home, in a store or on the go. That's why we launched Google Shopper in 2010 -- to make it easy for users to shop smarter. Today, we're making Google Shopper even more useful, with a new version for Android and iOS that makes it easier than ever to find great products at great prices, and more clearly view product details.

Need a new camera, but aren't quite sure which one is right for you? Google Shopper 3.2 allows you to see the most popular cameras on Google Shopping via a specialized result page.

Overwhelmed by choice? Google Shopper 3.2 provides you with the ability to use category-specific refinements to narrow down your search. This means that if you're looking for a point and shoot camera with a 10 Megapixel sensor, you can easily find the most popular cameras on Google Shopping which include that set of features.

Interested in a specific brand, store, price or other criteria? You can also refine your search in those ways, and the most popular products on Google Shopping that match those criteria will show.

Finally, once you've narrowed down your query to a few options, Google Shopper allows you to view detailed product information about each so that you can make an informed buying decision. In addition to reading that information, viewing reviews from across the web or watching video reviews from YouTube, you may find it useful to view multiple high-resolution product images in the new lightbox viewer.

         

You can download Shopper 3.2 for your Android device from Google Play, or for your iOS device from the App Store.

Posted by John-Shriver Blake, Product Manager, Google Shopper

Reach smartphone users around the world with Google Shopping

People today are constantly connected, presenting a tremendous opportunity for retailers to deliver the right products to them across devices anytime, anywhere. We recently announced the release of enhanced campaigns to help advertisers reach customers in a multi-screen world. Today we're pleased to announce the Product Listing Ads are now eligible to appear on smartphones globally, extending the shopping experience already available desktops and tablets. When a user enters a shopping-related search, a commercial format that displays products in a single unit may appear above organic search results. This ad unit is labeled as a 'Sponsored' and displays rich product images, prices, retailers, and more. This mobile shopping experience will be available in all markets currently serving Product Listing Ads.

Below are a couple of examples of what a shopper might see when searching for a product from their phone.

In the image on the left, a user searching for a plaid tie may see an ad unit displaying three options. He can click any of them to learn more and buy, or click 'Shop on Google' to continue browsing on Google Shopping, as shown in the image on the right. From there, the user can look at an even wider variety of options from different retailers. He can review and compare images, prices, reviews, shopping options and other information. Perhaps he'll narrow his search down to plaid ties over $45, or filter to see just the selections available nearby. Finally, once the user has honed in on the perfect choice, he can easily complete his purchase on the retailer's site.

Ensure your products are eligible to display in this new unit for smartphones.

If you've already upgraded your Product Listing Ads to enhanced campaigns and made appropriate bid adjustments, your products will automatically be eligible to display in the new unit for smartphones.

If you haven't yet upgraded your Product Listing Ads to enhanced campaigns, we recommend you upgrade to increase coverage of your products and easily manage bids across devices, locations, and time of day - all from a single campaign.

Learn more in our upcoming mobile shopping webinar

Google Shopping and Enhanced Campaigns

March 14, 2013 at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET)

During this webinar, attendees will learn about how Google Shopping and Product Listing Ads work in concert with features that are part of enhanced campaigns. We will also discuss the latest Google Shopping user experience on smartphones and cover new multi-screen opportunities for retail advertisers.

Posted by Erica Sievert, Product Marketing Manager, Google Shopping