Review of Google’s fashion play: Boutiques.com

Google's foray into fashon: Boutiques.com

Since Google announced their foray into fashion with the introduction of Boutiques.com we’ve been having a play around with the shopping curation service.

When the collective brainpower at the web’s behemoth acquires a web service (Like.com) for $100m and then launches as confidently as this, you know they’re pretty sure they’re onto something.

So is it any good?

We like:

• The endless choice. With the power of Google algorithms behind it, there’s a ton of stock – and that’s while it’s still restricting the featured retailers. Given the crowd-sourced boutique curation, this effect is multiplied. You could waste weeks exploring.

• The slick interface. Like all good e-stores, it pays homage to Net-a-Porter’s white on black navigation and the product images are way more appealing than standard Google ad text. It’s pretty easy to navigate and get started on your own Boutique.

• The choice of blogger, celeb, trend or retailer trends to follow. While a lot of my personal favourite bloggers and style stars are missing, I like the idea of quickly seeing Susie’s window-shopping at a glance.

We’re less keen on:

• The inevitable teething bugs (even using Google’s own browser) and the bias towards US fashion.

• The style suggestions. I took the style quiz and I’m sorry to admit that I loathe the resulting Boutique, which is meant to be the whole point. You can tweak results by giving a ‘love’ or ‘hate’ verdict for each product, but there’s so much wrongness I’d fear for the health of my clicking finger. Let’s just say that this will not be my go-to shoe this season.

• The pace of change. With a week between visits, my Boutique offered me the same folorn choice of inappropriate prom dresses and awkward footwear. The season title at the top of the page suggests it’ll refresh once a quarter, which isn’t going to entice me back on a regular basis.

• It’s just not as much fun as other social shopping sites like Polyvore or Looklet. After the initial style quiz, there’s nothing to create. Still, Google are all about search, so perhaps that’s missing their point.

Despite these complaints, the potential of Boutiques.com still seems pretty immense. Google are bound to refine the suggested looks and find ways of integrating the site into the rest of our online experience (look out for partnerships popping up with your favourite retailers, bloggers and social networks).

Make it useful and surprising on a daily basis and shoppers will love it.  And if any company has the capacity to achieve that, it’s Google.