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Update: Google has now introduced a gadget wizard for the Store Gadget. The company says:
Today, we’re excited to introduce a new feature for the store gadget: a wizard that streamlines the store creation process. By automating the manual steps in the original instruction guide, the new store gadget wizard should leave you with even more time to focus on your business.
Original Article: Google Labs has launched an interesting new gadget that allows users to create a Google Checkout store in gadget form to use on their blog or web site. According to Google the process is as simple as three easy steps:
1. Sign up for a Google Checkout account
2. Fill out a Google Docs Spreadsheet
3. Set up and insert you gadget
Sounds easy enough. Easily create an online store using a Google Docs spreadsheet. Interesting indeed. "No complicated coding or technical tasks are required," says Google on the gadget’s homepage. "You can get your first online store up-and-running in under five minutes."
As business owners and non-business owners alike look to sell stuff online to make some extra money in a less than ideal economy, a simple way of setting up a store can be just the ticket. With this gadget, once users sign up for Google Checkout, they can list their products in the spreadsheet and manage their inventory right in Google Docs.
The gadget itself can be embedded anywhere, which could be incredibly useful, particularly to those sellers who operate more than one site. In fact, online business owners are often encouraged to blog. Wouldn’t it make sense to have the store embedded right on the blog, for easy access? I think it would in many cases.
The gadget comes in three different sizes – large, small, and tiny. Here is how they look in comparison to one another:
When it comes to making the spreadsheet available to customers, you can do this by clicking "share" in the upper right-hand corner in Google Docs Spreadsheets. Then you choose "publish as a web page" from the drop down menu, and make sure that the "automatically re-publish when changes are made" option is checked. Then just click "start publishing".
If you have any trouble using it, Google runs down the whole process here. They have also set up a Google Checkout store gadget forum.
It should be noted that this gadget being a project of Google Labs means that it is still in the experimental stage. Does that mean you can’t use it? Of course not. Let’s not forget that Gmail just left its "beta" status this year. But with the gadget being a lab, just know that it could have bugs.
Nice plan…Emhh.
Google has had more changes in the last 3 months than they have had in three years. Thank you Bing
How would the Google store app apply to down loadable products like ebooks etc and how would the payment system work, ie: credit card processing etc.
How is this different than the Google Checkout I’ve been using for a year now?
Not having had much to do with the creation of online stores and some plans in the pipeline this option seems really easy. I will definitely be checking it out. Other Google tools have been very easy to implement so I trust this one will be the same.
I like how Google simplifies the checkout feature; now, even a newbie can have their own online store with technical experience.
An easy to use Google checkout store. It would be really helpful for the less tech savvy sellers to sell products online. Well done
I like to try one of these online stores. Do you think that google favor them in the index ranking ?
Where do you embed the message?
Does this help if you have a normal online store?
No, not really. It’s really only something that can help those that need to setup a new store, redesigning a store, or just want to post a few items for sale. Although I do have to admit it is quite nice to be able to quickly put together something like this!
Nice but we are using something that I think works better than this Google Gadget. Although I do like the simplicity of this!
This is awesome! I set up a store using the Google gadget today and I am really impressed with the way everything looks. It was really easy to do too. The only thing I don’t like (so far) is that there doesn’t seem to be a way to set up a shipping matrix to charge different amounts for different locations.
In testing the gadget, I discovered that buyers have to give their credit card information before being given a total with shipping and tax. This is one of my pet peeves. When I am buying online, I do not like to give out my cc info until I know what the total is and am sure I want to buy.
I agree completely! It wastes a lot of the buyer’s time. Also, I wouldn’t write a blank check to someone I don’t know, so why should this be acceptable?
I like Google everything about Online stuff is Google for me. Since my school days i think Google has provide me a lot of useful information and tools. I will always appreciate Google forever
Google Suck they think of them self
I hope that there will be Other currency than US Dollars. Not everyone works in the usa.
I need Canadian Dollars to be available or else its no good for the rest of us..
I have looked at google shopping cart and it’s not available for Australia. This is NOT FARE! Why google only makes everything for US and UK? Why Australia always left out?
Why Australia always left out?
Because it appears that you Aussies don’t really know the proper use/spelling of the word fair.
But you’re perfect? A perfect a**hole!
Like you have PHD in the English language, you must have an honours degree insulting other people
Like the guy said get into the 21st century and go get yourself a good ENGLISH teacher and u don’t need a phd to spell properly but then Oz has one of the worst illiterate status’s in the western world ” FACT’ it’s a wonder u passed the Maths question!!
It has to do with the size of the market and the location of the Corporation in the first place. i.e. I do not make products for another country usage first – I may not even speak the language much less fully understand their country’s laws. One would naturally start in their home market and it is an added benefit that the US market is larger than most. Don’t take it personally
With everyone up in arms about cloud computing, I really don’t think Google docs provides enough security to the store owner. Anyone could find the docs and re-organize the HTML on there. It’s a farce.
Google Checkout is available only for US customers. So please mention that in future articles.
It’s not THAT easy.
You must have an SSL certificate for the website you’ll be putting the Checkout Gaget on.
I must get New Secure name servers from my host which will wipe out my Website and Email files. Then I’ll have to Re-Upload my website files.
You don’t need an SSL cert for the website you’ll be putting the Checkout Gaget on. There is no need for this part to be secure. The checkout process is handled by Google and it immediately goes to https://checkout.google.com/... which means it is secure.
This is realy good development ,
That is why i said in last comment that , it is very difficult to thers like yahoo+microsoft to even come to the level enough to compet with google, google knows ,what peoples want, and they develop the same thing as others like that
I do not understand why the world keeps on pushing against yahoo and Microsoft.
Yahoo offers the best web based email client, with easy drag and drop and unlimited storage. They also offer a great site with great information.
As far as google docs goes, it is no alternative to word, word is still without doubt the best word processor out there.
Where goolge is the best is their search technology, they offer the easiest way to find info. They also are the most expensive ad agency out there.
To the point this google gadget, the demo stinks, and anyone using a real shopping cart can easily have a widget created for their site to copy and paste into a blog or any other page.
I still do not know of one other service that google is better at other than search.
Microsoft online storage which is free is better than most similar services. I will say that MS does not make a good anti virus product, other than that, there are not to many other things they make that are bad.
This looks really awesome. We have been looking for something like this to help us put our products on our blogs. Thanks guys for the info.18
Oh……..you given very usefull information. I must try it.
I will try it right now. Great to see Google is flexible.
Really i’m from littel people who watching google and i see that google wanna make a full products like OS and Searching engine and …….. mean another MS in the way
Okay, so as usualy google has created a service that is really only for googls and limited to the USA.
pay pal has offered a similar service for years.
Also anyone that has an online business and is actually making money could have had any programmer design a similar plugin for their cart, making this service look redundant.
seriously, if google makes it, we bow down, i am sure that we are not so happy with the inflated PPC and crazy monthly invoices we get.
so, at last the whole world is become dealers.
only because the bank are so stupid and not able to transfer money in time.
I have read many bad reviews about Google Checkout.
The main complaints is people who can’t get their money out and have no real person to contact at Google. I did some research and found no contact information for Google myself. Even horrible eBay and Paypal can be contacted but not Google.
No real person to talk too. It is too risky. No one is accountable.
Google also ignores Canadian customers and merchants.
As a businesswoman with an ecommerce site, I used Google ONCE for an order a customer placed – it took almost 11 days to get the money into my actual bank account! Then I learned there was no one to call and talk to about it. Although after ‘finally’ finding an email contact (it was like looking for a needle in the haystack), I received a reply within 12 hours. Google is only acting as a “gateway” between the customer’s credit card and my bank – there is no ‘bank’ of Google. With their Terms of Service, they say I can’t charge the customer’s card until the item ships, but then I have to wait 11 days for the money to be credited to my account? Can’t do Google Checkout! At least with PayPal, my money is there “instantly” because they are using Wells Fargo Bank. This also means my money in my PayPal account is covered by the FDIC. As long as I can provide ‘proof of delivery’ on an order, I’m covered with PayPal, although following a dispute, it could take up to 90 days or more to have them put the money back in my account after a dispute is filed! Really makes it hard, but the alternative is ‘nothing’ because Google can’t provide the speed needed to make business transactions. With today’s electronic funds transfer, I think it’s the FDIC and banks themselves that slow the process down unnecessarily.
The new google checkout sounds interesting and just might paypal that you love improve their service. First of all you money is NOT Fdic insured. Second of all hope it never comes down to a dispute with paypal because the buyer is ALWAYS Right. They do not defend the sellers and don’t really investigate disputes. It waits the 90 days and says sorry you lose. I have had that happen to me twice with absolute proof that I was right, but they don’t even look it over. Just to qualify myself I still use paypal and Google checkout and paypal is the main one. However my money is always in the bank within 3 bus. days. Some banks take longer than others or if it was your first time maybe they had glitches. I will continue to use both and will try the new google app to see how good it does.
Praise The Lord im so glad there is a company,that still just trying to help America. God Bless Them. Thank You WebPro News
cool. even if this rendition isn’t “wonderful”…we know that google will tweak it to make it so. Naysayers will eat their words as they are embedding this code into their blogs & websites. This may be just the competition that paypal and ebay need. thanks google for kicking butt (just don’t be a ball hog)
Google can tweak all the want and they will never get anywhere. They just want to provide this as a free service without the required support, which equals crap. That’s their culture.
Google is a Jack of all trades, master of none.
It’s one good gadget.