Highlights:

  • Research firm Canalys reported Google Cloud as one of the top cloud service providers for virtual retailers.
  • Canalys did not reveal specific statistics but did set the overall industrial position in the retail sector.
  • Alibaba, Azure, and AWS were rated as “advanced” in their abilities to serve retailers by Canalys.

Last year, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) was at the third position just after Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud infrastructure industry. But recently, the research firm Canalys declared Google Cloud as one of the top cloud service providers for online retailers.

Canalys did not reveal specific statistics but did set the overall industrial position in the retail division. The company, after analysis from its cloud channels service, placed Google ahead of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, followed by Alibaba Cloud and IBM. Microsoft earned second position and Amazon third, respectively. Canalys praised Microsoft in its report for a strong foothold in the industry.

“It’s probably not a coincidence that Google went after retail. Many retailers do not want to put their cloud presence onto AWS, as Amazon.com competes directly with these retailers,” said Brent Leary, Founder and Principal Analyst at CRM Essentials.

“Retailers have to compete with Amazon, and I’m guessing the last thing they want to do is use AWS and help Amazon fund all their new initiatives and experiments that in some cases will be used against them,” Leary told TechCrunch. “Many retailers would also prefer to keep their customer data off of Amazon’s services.”

“Amazon effect combined with the pandemic and other technological factors have been working in Google’s favor, at least in the retail sector,” said Canalys Senior Director Alex Smith. “Now more than ever, retailers need a digital strategy to win in an omnichannel world, especially with Amazon’s online dominance. Digital is applied everywhere from customer experience to cost optimization, and the overall technological capability of a retailer is what will define its success.”

The coronavirus pandemic impact on global business made several retailers shut down stores for an extended period. In the current situation, people prefer online stores instead of offline stores. Therefore, retailers with no specific knowledge in e-commerce must take training and have a substantial online existence.

Canalys, in its report mentioned, Google has enticed consumers with its enhanced search and advertising abilities instead of just offering real infrastructure. Thus, deriving benefit from the latest assets to expand the overall industrial segment.

“Retail is one of three industries, alongside healthcare and financial services, which Google Cloud is specifically targeting,” as commented by Chief Executive Thomas Kurian at Next ’19. Recently, the provider declared several updates at the main retail event National Retail Federation (NRF), including retail-specific search and BigQuery model builds, as a broader extension of its retail acceleration program (RAP).

Google is planning to get into the big retail sector and associating with Salesforce and other products revealed at Google Cloud Next.

Canalys mentioned Google’s potency in marketing and search and is concentrating on growing collaborations with big systems integrators to assist the development of retail business. Sainsbury’s in the UK, Kohl’s Costco in the US, Home Depot, Best Buy, and Carrefour in France are the retail consumers.

About Canalys

Canalys is a major global technology industry analyst company with a distinct channel focus. It is headquartered in Singapore.

About National Retail Federation (NRF)

NRF supports and produces events all year long and has represented retail for over a period. NRF is the nation’s leading private-sector company, and retail contributes about USD 3.9 trillion to the annual GDP.