New York — Google Inc., world’s most popular search engine, unfazed by the recent tech industry developments, just rolled out the new Google Checkout store gadget, currently managed by Google Labs, allows any Google Docs user to create an online store and sell items using a Google spreadsheet.
The new Google Checkout store gadget application allows people to set up an online store in “a matter of minutes” and can be integrated on any Web site without the need to engage in “complicated coding,” Google said in an official blog.
According to Google the process is as simple as three easy steps:
- Sign up for a Google Checkout account
- Fill out a Google Docs Spreadsheet
- Set up and insert you gadget
To use the new application, first users need to sign up for a Google Checkout seller account and use a Docs spreadsheet to list the store’s inventory, wrote Anjali Vaidya, a Google associate product marketing manager, in the blog post.
The gadget comes in three different sizes – large, small, and tiny. Here is how they look in comparison to one another:
The checkout account will be employed for processing orders placed at the online store. It can also help them attract new sales leads as well as convert more sales for their products.
“Using new Spreadsheet Data APIs, we have integrated Google Docs and Google Checkout to make online selling a breeze,” explains Google Checkout strategist Mike Giardina in a blog post. “In three simple steps, you will be able to create an online store that is powered by Google Checkout and has inventory managed and stored in a Google spreadsheet.”
Giardina insists that the process is simple and can be completed in less than five minutes.
For seasoned business owners and non-business owners alike looking to sell products 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, after signing up for Google Checkout account, users then need to list the products they want to sell using Google Docs spreadsheet.
Finally, after preparing the Google docs spreadsheets, users will need to embed the Google Checkout store gadget on their websites. Instructions on embedding the Google Checkout to different sites including Google Sites, iGoogle, Blogger and other blog sites are enumerated here.
Also, when displaying the spreadsheet to customers, users 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.
However, Google has rolled out this service with the Labs label, which means it is an early-stage prototype, and as such it can change significantly, become temporarily unavailable and even disappear forever without prior notice.
“The projects in Labs are intended to deliver some of our cool and wacky ideas but are not intended to be full-blown Google products. Labs experiments may be unavailable or be even removed without notice and you may not be able to access any of your data. We recommend that you not use sensitive information in a Labs experiment,” reads the Google Labs FAQ.
Still, it would appear that this gadget by definition will be used to handle sensitive information, such as online transactions, credit-card numbers, customer shipping information and inventory data.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.