Google Can Handle Data, But Can It Handle Actual Shoppers?

31-03-2014

GOOGLE is set to open up its first retail location in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood, according to news reports earlier this month. Specifically, Google has signed a lease for 8,000-square feet at 131 Greene St., which at current market rents for the submarket represent a sizeable investment for just about any company except Google.

Rent aside, the stakes are still huge for Google, assuming the report—and it is hardly the first–is true. Google has, one could conclude, been practicing for this day with various endeavors such as the floating barge showroom, its Winter Wonderlab pop up stores in certain cities and, of course, its Chrome Zone sites in select Best Buys.

But those have all been partial attempts at a retail presence, with the emphasis on technology and gadgets.

With a full-fledged retail presence, Google is going to have to, well, actually sell. This may not seem like a tall order for a company that probably knows more about our tastes, secret fears and wish lists than our parents or spouse, but it is. That is because in the brick-and-mortar world of retailing, selling also includes customer service and after service.

                                                                          NAME MITHILESH CHAUBEY

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