Google Shopping announces commission free sales to take on e-commerce giant Amazon

Tech and search engine giant Google announced on Thursday that it would bring about a significant change in its e-commerce platform Google Shopping. The company made the announcement in a blog post that it will stop charging commissions on its 'Buy on Google' checkout, which means the sellers wouldn't require to pay commissions to Google. 

It would also allow retailers to use third-party platforms like Shopify and Paypal to get on the ‘Buy on Google’ platform. 

However, the initiative is said to be launching only in the United States as of now, but the company said it is looking forward to bringing it to international markets later this year and in 2021.

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“Soon, sellers who participate in our Buy on Google checkout experience will no longer have to pay us a commission fee," the company wrote in a blog post last night. 

However, Google is relatively new in the e-commerce business and hence, the move to discontinue charging commission is intended to attract more sellers on its e-commerce portal in a bid to build-up the shopping platform and make it competitive against the global e-commerce giant Amazon which charges a commission to the sellers on the portal. With this move, the cost of the products will is also likely to come down as the sellers will not be required to pay commission to Google for its service.

“By removing our commission fees, we’re lowering the cost of doing business and making it even easier for retailers of all sizes to sell directly on Google, starting with a pilot that we’ll expand to all eligible sellers in the US over the coming months," the blog post read.

Amid the pandemic, more people have resorted to buying online and reports show that the e-commerce market is expected to surpass 45 percent market in terms of coverage, in countries like India, giving the opportunity to e-commerce portals to expand their presence.

Even social media giant Facebook had launched its marketplace initiative and the shops platform, wherein anyone can list products or services for sale and gain access to a local audience.

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