Google is all geared up to enter the realm of e-commerce and compete with online shopping platforms like Amazon. It will use a range of features that will leverage generative artificial intelligence technology to offer a better shopping experience.
The Alphabet owned company has unveiled features that will help assist users preview how clothing items will fit users regardless of body sizes. It will also use search and image recognition technology to find products and introduce methods to explore travel destinations and plan the trip route through generative AI.
This advanced technology that will be used by the tech giant will also have the ability to generate text, images and videos based on basic prompts.
Maria Renz, Google's vice president of commerce, in an interview before the announcement by the giant said, "We want to make Google the place for consumers to come shop, as well as the place for merchants to connect with consumers. We’ve always been committed to an open ecosystem and a healthy web, and this is one way where we’re bringing this technology to bear across merchants."
Google's competition
Despite being a tech giant, Google faces severe competition from Amazon in terms of product searches and research. A survey by CivicScience revealed that 46 per cent of US shoppers began their product search on Amazon despite Google having a dominating hold over the search market. The research also states that TikTok is gaining traction in the e-commerce space with 18 per cent of Gen Z online shoppers using the platform to begin their search journey.
The tech giant has acknowledged this trend and is therefore using innovative AI features to attract a young audience.
Virtual Try-on
The search engine giant has introduced features like 'virtual try on' that will allow users to visualize how the clothing will fit on different body types ranging from XXS and 4XL. The company like many others in the clothing industry has limited their focus on the clothing size to 4XL instead of being size inclusive.
The virtual try-on feature will use images of different models captured by Google during the development phase and overlay the apparel on top of these images for a more inclusive and comprehensive experience. The aim of this feature is to offer users a better understanding of how clothing will look and fit on different body sizes.
This new feature will also consider characteristics of clothing like wrinkling and stretching to give a more realistic image. In the initial stage the feature will be focused on women's tops and it will be in collaboration with retailers like Everlane and Anthropologie. Men's clothing will be included at a later stage.
Google has also released a research paper that outlines the technology behind these new AI features.
Search Generative Experience
In addition, the tech giant has plans to expand the source of information as more users explore the search generative experience. The services initially introduced last month at Google's I/O developers conference are limited to experimental Search Labs products.
However, with more users testing the service, Google will incorporate more diverse and extensive sources of information into the user experience.
