Google partners with high-street shop tech start-up
Google has teamed up with tech start-up NearSt on rolling out a service that will allow customers to search for products in local high-street shops.
The business, founded three years ago by Max Kreijn and Nick Brackenbury, will connect products in local shops to Google search functions, so that consumers can find local stores stocking the item they want.
The technology, which connects to retailers’ point-of-sale systems, will also show availability, prices and routes to the shops.
Google has teamed up with tech start-up NearSt on rolling out a service that will allow customers to search for products in local high-street shops.
The business, founded three years ago by Max Kreijn and Nick Brackenbury, will connect products in local shops to Google search functions, so that consumers can find local stores stocking the item they want.
The technology, which connects to retailers’ point-of-sale systems, will also show availability, prices and routes to the shops.
The company is aiming to raise £2m to fund its expansion, with plans to launch in the US.
It has so far raised £1.3m from investors, including venture fund YYX Capital, headed up by Simba Sleep founder James Cox.
Nathalie Walton, global head of local shopping at Google Shopping, said: “NearSt has some fantastic technology which we are leveraging to make it as easy to shop locally as it is online.
“It gives small retailers the ability to compete effectively in the online world, without needing any of the technical and financial firepower of their online competitors.”
Cox added: “There are over 200,000 stores in the UK, and millions worldwide, which could benefit from NearSt’s technology. They are knocking on the door of a market worth tens of billions of pounds.”
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