The Silicon Review ^Asia

Google now seems to have a plan to dive into the e-commerce market in India. The search engine giant is supposed to launch its online storefront the coming November, where all its branded hardware products including Pixel, Chromecast, Daydream, etc. will be available. By putting its licensed hardware products on display, Google will develop a stronger influence on the customers and improve their buying experience. According to certain sources, Google is also partnering with many third-party partners for this.

With a storefront, Google can gain information regarding the users planning to buy its phones, and it can also deliver a better end-to-end selling experience with extended warranty plans or upgrade programs. Last year, Google bagged up a 0.07% of the over market share of smartphones and 3% in the premium smartphone category. But the shares fell to 0.03% and 1.6% respectively based on a research from Counterpoint Research.

As the retail space gets dominated by Amazon and Flipkart, Google realizes that e-commerce can be a very powerful tool. However many think that most shoppers won’t prefer going to a Google store instead of an e-commerce directly. Arpan Sheth, partner at consulting firm Bain and Co., said, “Currently, almost 45% of online gross sales in India come from smartphones. If they have the right supply of phones, one that can drive traffic, make it exclusive, it could pick up the pace.” Its pre-launch version of its storefront will enable users to find online and offline retailers to buy its products.