Shopping...now ridiculously easy!

It took a while, but Google has made its big move as a local shopping inventory gatekeeper. Google has announced the full launch of its stock-checking service, where mobile phone users can see if their desired item is available.

The new feature works on iPhone, WebOS and Android powered phones which detects your location when a product search is performed and shows the nearest store where the product is in stock. The interface also lets you select/change or manually enter your location for better results. The new “In stock nearby” feature is marked with a blue dot in the search results. Hit on the blue dot and it will show you more details about the stores that have the searched product in stock (for example stores phone number, navigate to the store using maps, etc.).

However, this service is only available for shops like Best Buy, Sears, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, or West Elm. Yes, you have got it right…at this moment this application is only available in the US. Therefore, Google has already offered to discuss the service with any other retailers as well, so there is every chance we could see this rolled out to the UK as well.

Following screenshots will give you a better idea of what the feature looks like.