Google testing its new personalized Shopping homepage in France

Late last year, Google announced a new Shopping experience and homepage that first launched in India. The Google Shopping site has now been spotted in France with its new icon, Material Theme design, and personalized focus.

Google Shopping is a comparison service that lets users search across different retailers for products. It has long been integrated in Google Search with its own tab and results filter, as well as Knowledge Panels for products that include details in addition to pricing.

Last December, Google announced a new Shopping homepage focussed on providing a “personalized and immersive experience.” It features a new price tag icon in the four Google colors with the ‘G’ logo. Sections include “Recently viewed,” “Picks for you,” and “Top Deals.” This feed of products on the new shopping.google.com replaces the old standard search field against a white background of google.com/shopping.

The Shopping home page is a new made-to-browse destination for shoppers to search across multiple product categories and find products from thousands of retailers. To make the shopping experience richer, we have added some smart features, including price drops and a collection of the most popular products on Google.

Most of the shopping tools are not new, with many already accessible in Search. However, in bringing these features together, Google equates the new experience to “window shopping.” On entry-level phones, Google is offering a Progressive Web App to make the site widely available.

After debuting in India, Google is now testing the site in France (via numerama). One new feature since that initial launch is a grid of product categories up top. The company partnered with French retailers on a “Buy with Google” option where users pay Google directly. This option sounds like Google Express in the U.S.

The crux of the matter lies in the little blue label dominated by a “G” meaning “buy with Google.” The firm says that if you see this label, it means that “you can pay directly to Google and take advantage of our warranty, including customer service and easy returns. This label appears on products that customers can buy directly from Google. (via Google Translate)

Even in France, the new Google Shopping experience is not yet widely available. It will presumably see a wider launch in other parts of the world.