Localization is key to capturing shoppers

Stephanie Tilenius

“Location, location, location” has served as a retail store mantra for as long as anyone can remember. Now, as more consumers shop on e-commerce web sites, “localization” has become one of the most important concepts, says Stephanie Tilenius, vice president of e-commerce at Google Inc.

At the Internet Retailer Conference next week, Tilenius will give a featured address entitled “Google enters the e-commerce arena.” She will talk about how online retailing is changing and what part Google will play in e-commerce.

Among the main areas to which retailers need to pay attention, Tilenius says, are the increasing tendency of consumers to use mobile phones for shopping; the rise of social media as an influence on shopping; the personalization of search to make online shopping more efficient; and how consumers seek out local data when making shopping decisions.

“Localization will have a major influence on online retail,” she says, noting that one in five desktop searches on Google relate to location. “Everything will be localized down to you. This means retail information needs to be useful, relevant, timely and personal, and presented in a geographic context.”

Google in February hired Tilenius, a nine-year veteran of eBay Inc., to her newly created position. The appointment came shortly after the search engine giant began selling through the web the Nexus One mobile phone, which runs on the Google-backed Android operating system. The direct-from-the web sales of the phones, along with an experiment offering paid rentals of independent films through Google-owned YouTube and Tilenius’ experience with eBay’s PayPal online payment service, led many observers to wonder whether Google intended to become a force in online retailing.

By late May, however, Google had stopped selling Nexus One phones through its online store, though sales of the phone continue through physical stores operated by mobile carriers. “Many customers preferred a hands-on experience before buying a phone where they can interact with sales representatives and choose from a wide range of brands,” Tilenius says.

Despite the Nexus One pullback, Tilenius says the line between offline and online is vanishing. “It’s all commerce,” she says. “To thrive in this new environment, where the web is becoming a richer and more dynamic shopping platform, retailers need to constantly innovate and experiment.”