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Google breaks into mobile video shopping

July 21, 2020Written by Tom Ryan

Source: Google - "Shoploop: An Entertaining New Way To Shop Online"

Google has launched Shoploop, a video shopping platform “for discovering, evaluating and buying products, all in one place.” The platform is billed as an “experiment” from Google’s workshop Area 120. In a blog entry, Lax Poojary, Shoploop’s general manager, said the inspiration for the platform was a goal to combine three steps in the mobile shopping experience:

Discovering an item from someone on a social media site, such as Instagram;
Evaluating the item by heading to YouTube to see a tutorial or demo;
Buying the item at an e-commerce site.

Users can save products to check out later, they can like a product, share clips with friends and follow creators for more content. “The experience on Shoploop is more interactive than just scrolling through images, titles and descriptions on a traditional e-commerce site,” said Mr. Poojary. All Shoploop videos are capped at 90 seconds "and help you discover new products in an entertaining way," said Mr. Poojary. "We want to help people experience the look and feel of products they're shopping for in real life without going to a physical store. Shoploop helps you get product reviews from real people who are knowledgeable about the products in a particular area." The application is currently focused on content from creators, publishers and store owners in the beauty industry, mainly in makeup, skincare, hair and nails categories. In May, Google began allowing merchants to list their products on Google Shopping for free in what was seen as a response to Amazon.com’s dominance in product search. Wrote TechCrunch’s Sarah Perez about Shoploop, “Finding more ways to engage online consumers could be beneficial to the internet giant, and this video-slash-influencer fueled shopping experience appeals to a younger demographic, in particular.” On July 15, Amazon added live streaming to its existing Amazon Influencer Program, which enables social media influencers to earn money by guiding fans to products on the site through posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, NTWRK, TikTok and a number of startups, such as Popshop Live, also offer ways to drive sales through live and pre-recorded video.

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