Google’s Pointy device pulls in new customers

by Jill Lupupa jill.lupupa@newtrade.co.uk

Google has begun pushing out a free, plug-in device that generates footfall for retailers by allowing potential customers to see what products each shop sells and for what price online.

Though Google acquired Pointy in 2020, stores reported a surge in calls and deliveries of the tool in the past few months. Some stores also reported their EPoS provider had begun ‘recommending’ Pointy.

Retailers can either plug a Pointy device into their till and scanner or download the Pointy app directly onto some till systems. Once a product is scanned at the till, Pointy pulls up the title, image and description from the product’s barcode and adds it to the store’s Google listing. Stores can choose whether or not to also display prices and can also pay for additional Google ‘local inventory’ adverts if they wish.

Chloe Taylor-Green, from Spar Western Downs in Stafford, told RN the store was an early adopter, ordering the free device 18 months ago. Explaining its impact, she said: “We’ve had someone come from Birmingham, a 45-minute drive from us, looking for Prime. They were able to call ahead to check we had it in stock.

“It’s good for footfall as people can return to you when they like what you stock so you reach a market that’s not known to you.”

Kavita Patel, from Burnham Budgens in Slough, Berkshire, also noticed the impact: “We’ve had it for six-to-eight weeks. We’ve been getting a lot of people calling and asking if we have certain things in stock as Google had told people how many of a certain product we’ve sold in a week.

“Our enquiries have increased, but I don’t know if it’s actually made a difference with people coming into the store yet as we’ve had it for a short time.”

Brigid Yacamini, from Creetown Stores in Galloway, is a recent adopter, stating: “We hope to see an uplift in the summertime with holidaymakers catching the ferries to Ireland. The population of people passing by nearly doubles. More tourists will swing by as they don’t know what we sell.”

Paramanathan Gowsinathan, of Newsboy Premier in Sandhurst, Berkshire, said Google called them and delivered it. “We’ve had it for three-tofour months, and it’s easy to connect with the USB that goes from the scanner to the EPoS system.”

Vrajesh Patel, owner at Londis Dagenham, said: “The staff do monthly reviews of Pointy. We will be doing one at the end of the month – I don’t oversee that, but on the whole it’s a positive for retailers.”

NearSt (Near Street) also provides a Google-partnered service connecting partnered stores to customers searching for specific items in their nearby area. The service counts retailers such as Spar SW and Southern Co-op, and EPoS companies such as IT Retail Systems and TLM, among its partners.

Challenges and opportunities

Some stores told RN they had opted to work with NearSt instead of Pointy after facing issues integrating Pointy with their EPoS system.

IT Retail Systems commercial director John Haslam agreed: “The main thing is integration. We make sure everything is done by us automatically or by NearSt, but with Pointy, the retailers may have to do this themselves.”

A common concern outlined by stores was the sharing of data with Google and the visibility of this to rivals. Former

PayPoint retail director and co-founder of convenience consultancy C-store Collective Mike Igoe said: “There’s a real advantage in terms of footfall, a driver in customers knowing the products are in store, or have been sold in store because of the sales data they supply.

“But they also need to be aware that they’ve shared that data.”

Nick Brackenbury, co-founder and CEO at NearSt, said that while some retailers “feel uneasy about providing their data to big tech”, the alternative was to lose customers.

He explained: “If everyone uses their phones to find things online, then we don’t want to harm ourselves as physical retailers by basically being invisible or not even part of that journey.”

Google states the device only takes data from the barcode scanner, and not the EPoS system.

Stores can order Pointy by registering their details at pointy.withgoogle. com or purchase the NearSt service at near.st.