Google announced an update to its Commerce Search (GCS) product today and the new features aim to provide merchants and shoppers a more interactive and engaging experience.

Google has integrated its instant search feature (search as you type – see below for image from babyage.com) into GCS 3.0, returning product results as users type into the search box. Merchants will also be able to better align offline and online sales by displaying to shoppers when a product is available in a nearby store – right in-line with the search results.

Merchants will also be excited about the enhanced merchandising capabilities within the updated GCS. Retailers can now create product promotions that will display in banners alongside related search queries and even set up query-based landing pages.

Still in development but apparently upcoming for GCS are product recommendations. The feature will enable shoppers to make purchase decisions by showing them what others viewed and ultimately bought.

While none of these features is terribly unique as other commercial platform have offered similar technologies in terms of recommendations and merchandising capabilities, it does show Google’s renewed focus on created a competitive offering for merchants.