What we currently know as the classic Google Merchant Center will soon be transformed into ‘Google Merchant Center Next’. This new product will slowly roll out over the next 18 months (or so) and should be available to all by the end of 2024.
The new product is said to be great for those with online and local stores, as all products will be available to manage, within one interface.
What are the differences between Google Merchant Center and Google Merchant Center Next?
The latest product has been simplified and designed to make it easier for smaller retailers to input product details. Gone are the days of having to complete each individual field for each individual product. Google Merchant Center Next will take all those details from the website and populate the product feed automatically, making it easy for smaller websites to see their inventory across Google.
Of course, this information will then be editable so any details that are not correct can be altered. The feature can also be turned off completely if a merchant chooses to.
This is what the new interface will look like:
Insights in the Performance tab
In order for retailers to get easy access to their performance data, Google has brought all the insight reports under the performance tab within GMC Next:
Here, merchants can gain insight into how their products are selling, and who they appear against, and see how users interact with their store on Google Search and Maps.
New insights will also be available, including details of the benefits of fixing feed errors, to make it super simple for users to prioritise fixes going forward.
Product Studio
Another useful feature that will be hosted on the new GMC Next is Product Studio. This tool helps merchants easily create unique images of their products using AI.
Google says, “while many product offers on Google have just one image, we see an increase in both impressions (+76%) and clicks (+32%) for product offers that include more than one image.”
This is why Google has created this new product for smaller businesses that have fewer images to simply create multiple product photographs using generative AI.
The key features of the new product include:
- Background removal – simply remove a background image and show your product on a clean, plain background
- Increase resolution – simply increase the clarity of an image without having to reshoot
- Custom product scenes – simply add a new background to a product image for a new season / campaign / AB test, with a click of a few buttons and no need for a whole new photoshoot, to see these in action see:
Google Merchant Center Next has already been offered to new users and Google plans to upgrade smaller businesses over the next few months. Hopefully it’ll be available to all before the end of 2024. When the upgrade is available to you, you will be notified accordingly.
