Google Taking a Very ‘Googly’ Approach to Local Product Inventory

The challenge of local store inventory is one that companies have been attacking for some time with variable success. Consumers value the information, although it’s not a “must-have” and there’s lots of complexity in bringing it online.

There are a number of companies in the market right now trying different approaches:

• Milo
• NearbyNow
• Krillion
• Shopatron
• Askthelocal (UK)

… And of course Google.

The company announced several months ago that it was going to bring local inventory data to mobile and online. Rather than working with third parties, as it did the first time around in 2004-2005 (StepUp, ShopLocal) Google is going direct to retailers. (Roughly 15% of US retailers have “buy online, pick up in store” capability.)

Google in its inimitable, Googly way is asking retailers to provide inventory feeds directly to the company:

Since we announced the Local Shopping inventory beta some months ago, we have received great user feedback on the feature, and retailers have been clamoring to take part. Today, we’re making public our help documentation for participation. Please take a moment to review those documents, and if you’re interested, fill out the local shopping interest form. While we won’t be able to accept all retailers who apply, we will keep your name on file if we can’t take you at this time. Please note that excellent Product Search data quality is a prerequisite for participation, so make sure that you are submitting an accurate and complete data feed, including unique product identifiers. Additionally, to take part you’ll need to have your stores listed on Google Places, so make sure you have submitted and verified your store listings.

Google doesn’t need to get perfect data or “critical mass” at this time because these data will be presented as a “nice to have” feature in the context of a broader local/shopping proposition.

Milo, for its part, has been working hard on trying to figure out how to get independent and small retailer data into its system. It involves lots of heavy lifting. Shopatron has figured out a system that works for small retailers but the data aren’t provided to consumers in real-time. NearbyNow has a system that could work for “mom & pops” but the company has mostly avoided that segment.

Google will get large and some moderate-sized retailers to submit their data. And just like its AdWords experience with SMBs, it will have real difficulty attracting independent local retailers.

But Google’s visibility and the availability of this program generally may help accelarate the movement toward more real-time inventory data among more retailers, who in the aggregate don’t see it as a huge priority right now. They do want to drive people into physical stores, but they see myriad ways to do that. Inventory isn’t the only one.