Despite worries of a looming recession, consumers are shopping — at least online. Online shopping rose nearly 9% during the 2024 holiday season. With that behavior in mind, Google is bulking up its artificial intelligence features to allow consumers to sift through the millions of products available at their fingertips.
On Wednesday, Google rolled out three new immersive shopping features using its AI capabilities. Available to mobile users, the new vision match feature will generate images of users’ search terms for consumer products like clothing and accessories and link them to shoppable products matching their descriptions. Google will also make available to mobile and desktop users an expanded virtual try-on feature allowing shoppers to see how full outfits look on a range of models and shop accompanying products. Later in the week, Google will unveil a mobile beauty shopping feature that allows users to virtually try-on full-face beauty looks that pull from popular makeup styles and shop products that match those looks.
According to Lilian Rincon, vp of consumer shopping product, these new products speak to a consumer base that is increasingly open to using AI to shop.
“Fifty-nine percent of people now are open to using AI for shopping, and that number continues to grow every year,” said Rincon. “There are new ways that people are searching. They’re using their camera. They’re not using text anymore. … All of this will evolve and become more a daily part of how people interact with technology.”
The new features build on existing technology such as AR partnerships that Google has done with the likes of Pat McGrath, but the tech giant is still building on the new capabilities. For its virtual makeup try-on, Google’s AI models will pull accompanying products from a list of participating brands, such as Makeup by Mario, Fenty Beauty and Dior Beauty. Currently, users can try-on makeup styles from a limited library of popular looks, like celebrity red carpet makeup or trending aesthetics like “soft glam.” But Google hopes to expand the feature in the future to growing search terms.
Rincon emphasized that Google has made efforts to make these products available to a diverse range of consumers. Its virtual try-on feature allows users to see looks on models ranging from XXS to XXL. Rincon cited Google’s Monk Skin Tone Scale, a 10-shade scale for human skin tone released in 2023, as part of its efforts to address beauty consumers of varying skin tones.
Google parent company Alphabet has underscored the importance of innovation in a crowded tech arms race for AI dominance in recent months. Google co-founder Sergey Brin encouraged employees to come into the office “at least” every weekday and log 60 hours of work a week in an internal company memo to employees who work on Google’s AI capabilities. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai attributed some of Google’s successful fourth quarter, which generated $96.47 billion in revenue, to its AI growth.
Rincon said generative AI is particularly crucial to younger users.
“This is just giving you an additional way to co-create with Google the thing that you have in your mind,” she said of the vision match feature. “This was inspired by [UX research] that we did with the younger generation, with Gen Zers. The way they’ve grown up, they like to co-create things.”
While consumers have not necessarily slowed down their shopping amid economic uncertainty, they are doing their research. In its 2024 e-commerce survey, logistics company Ryder found that 49% of consumers cited doing more comparison research before purchasing.
“Our main goal is allowing shoppers to be more confident in their purchases. And in an unbiased way, we’re helping connect consumers to the right products and the right merchants,,” said Rincon.