Google And Facebook Both Testing Expansion Of ‘Buy Buttons’

Both Google and Facebook have announced the expansion of “buy buttons,” with Google testing a new buy button feature for its mobile search while Facebook is testing shops with buy buttons inside of its Pages.

Google’s new feature is intended to enhance the online shopping experience for mobile users. The smarter search service is called “Purchases on Google,” and it allows users to shop on-the-go using Google Voice to bring up shopping searches where they can make purchases directly from their smartphones.

Consumers can ask Google Now for the best item to buy, and it will return the three highest-rated products based on customer reviews. The new search feature will also display product ads in the search results. Consumers will be able to click on the product and use the buy button feature, which provides a checkout option for direct purchases from any smartphone. Google will store payment information so the user can make the purchase in just a tap, and it will support Android Pay when the payment service rolls out later this year.

Auto dealerships who choose to take part in Google’s shopping campaign will have their product images, prices and business name shown on Google search, and they will pay on a cost-per-click basis. A nice detail of the new feature is that local inventory ads will display related products that people are searching for nearby. When a user clicks on that ad, they will be directed to a Google-hosted page where they can view that product and the store’s inventory, as well as get directions for shopping on location.

Car dealers can also become Google Trusted Store sellers for free, receiving a badge for display on Google Shopping to let shoppers know their business is a reliable place to shop. A review extension feature will also help shoppers make the best product decision based on five star reviews shown on Google AdWords and Google Shopping. The company says that approximately one dozen merchants have already signed on for Purchases on Google, and it has plans to expand its list of participating retailers.

In a comparable move, Facebook appears to be working to revitalize its Pages by transforming them into commercial destinations where users cannot only quickly get business information, but can also make purchases. Over a year since Facebook started to test its buy button on ads in the News Feed, BuzzFeed is reporting that the social media giant has recently started testing shops with buy buttons inside of Facebook Pages. It seems the company is now ready to take the next logical step with its service by providing dedicated shops on Pages where users can browse for and purchase items.

“The shops are still in the testing phase, but some already feature ‘buy’ buttons that allow the entire shopping experience to occur within Facebook – from product discovery to checkout,” reports BuzzFeed. Facebook product marketing manager Emma Rodgers told BuzzFeed News that, “With the shop section on the Page, we’re now providing businesses with the ability to showcase their products directly on the Page.”

With this move, Facebook is joining several other social media giants, including Pinterest and Twitter, that are shifting gears to tackle commerce. The change has significant potential to alter the way users interact with businesses, while Facebook is already changing how users discover posts from Pages that they follow.

Although Facebook hasn’t mentioned any plans to earn revenue directly from shopping transactions at this point, its new shopping and payment-related features certainly fit in with the company’s larger goal of keeping users in its apps and website for as long as possible.

There’s no question these new features from Facebook and Google have the potential to dramatically alter the type of content strategies auto dealerships use to push out information to consumers. Historically, social media strategies have tended to be focused on building up engagement and brand value, and it will be very interesting to see whether this overt focus on making a purchase will result in businesses approaching Facebook Pages more like their own traditional websites.