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Google’s holiday shopping tweaks just keep on coming.
On Tuesday, Google said it is making Google Lens more akin to in-store shopping.
Google’s Lilian Rincon, VP of consumer shopping product, said shoppers can use Lens—the little camera button beside the text box on Google Search—when shopping in-store to find details like product information, similar products in stock, whether a store’s price is competitive, and reviews by clicking an image of the product.
“This new update is made possible by major advancements in our AI image recognition technology,” Rincon said in a blog post. “This new feature can give shoppers the information and confidence they need to make a decision on the spot.”
The upgrade is powered by merging Google’s AI assistant Gemini and Google’s shopping graph database, which carries more than 45 billion product listings.
The tech giant said it is rolling out the feature with beauty products, toys, and electronics at stores of all sizes that share their local inventory with Google.
Last month, Google upgraded Lens to enable shoppers to discover visual matches of products with specific product information, including price across retailers, reviews, or where to buy the items. This change was geared more broadly toward online shopping.
Shop on Google Maps: This holiday season, Rincon said, users will also be able to search for products in Google Maps and find nearby stores selling them. “Just search for an item, like a holiday sweater, to discover stores nearby that carry it and browse relevant inventory,” she added.
Google said the feature will be available for categories like home goods, electronics, and clothing as well as for grocery items. Shopping in Maps is launching in the US in the coming weeks, Rincon said.
Checkout options: Google is also expanding its buy now, pay later partners on its digital checkout service Google Pay with Afterpay. “Now we’re adding Afterpay as an option and Klarna is coming soon, so you have even more choices at checkout,” Rincon said.
The search giant is also expanding its virtual card feature to Discover cardholders in the US who can set up and use a virtual card from their Chrome or Android device.