According to BIA/Kelsey Group, local digital advertising revenues will climb to $42.5 billion by 2015, almost double 2010’s $21.7 billion. While local search continues to grow, my personal local shopping experience last week shows it still has ways to go.
I had to replace 2 rear tires on my car and was trying to find a local tire shop. I knew the brand and model of the tires I needed so I simply turned to Google product search.
And what did I find? Nothing!
This surprised me, given how many auto and tire shops I've seen around San Francisco...heck, even the Bay Area. Google couldn't return one single result!
That was what I was hoping to find with my tire search. No such luck! It was frustrating that even in today's digital world, I just had to call around and ask friends for recommendations.
So, for at least the tire category, it's not that great despite the fact I was ready to buy with exact product specs. Perhaps some day it'll be as smooth a customer experience as my Barnes & Noble mobile experience from last year.