Does Google favor products described using the GS1 standard?
Magdalena Krasoń-Wałęsiak, e-commerce expert, GS1 Poland Foundation: In the slowly ending year of 2017, the number 1 trend in the world of e-commerce is personalization. The customer should feel that they are being treated exceptionally. Success in the e-commerce industry is determined by the level of their satisfaction and the ability to meet their changing needs. This is one of the main conclusions from the “What’s Hot in Digital Commerce in 2017” report, developed by Gartner. A dynamically developing e-business should be based on a personalized offer. An offer tailored to the customer’s needs also means unambiguous product identification. The customer gets exactly what they are looking for. However, for this to happen, products sold online must be accurately identified and clearly described.
Marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Google Shopping, or Allegro must find a way to more effectively manage huge product catalogs, which is why they need unambiguous product identifiers from sellers. Thanks to a better understanding of what is being sold on these platforms, they can introduce improvements that will help customers search, compare, and ultimately make better purchases more easily. GS1 standards, in particular the most well-known GTIN number, serve this unambiguous product identification. Each product has a unique number assigned only to it on a global scale – one unique number for one product worldwide. This is probably why, starting from February 2017, Google introduced a requirement in Poland to use GTIN numbers in its two advertising formats, including Google Shopping. I would not treat this as an element of coercion, but rather as the beginning of an initiative to improve the quality of product data for the benefit of customers, that is, all of us.