Google Maps, shopping gift guide lets you support local businesses

FOX 2 - As the holiday season begins, we check in with Molly VandenBerg, a Google technology expert to find out what the trends are.

FOX 2: "What are people looking for?"

"The holiday shopping season is officially here, it's just my favorite time of the year," she said. "It can be a little bit tricky to know what to buy for everyone on your list. One thing we did is round up what we did as a Google shopping gift guide. Which you can find it G.co/giftguide.

"This has trending products across all different categories so what are you looking for something for the shower for the athlete or the techy or the kids in your life, it has some trending products there. They're pretty interesting, some of them I've never heard of before but there are a few insights that I think are pretty specific to the year we've been in. So I can tell you that several coffee makers, air fryers and even patio heaters are all trending."

FOX 2: "These are definitely things we would not have thought of last year, right?"

"Exactly, I think the types of items that we're looking for, may have changed a little bit this year," she said. "But I think that's especially true with goods from the home. But one thing I can also say that makes the list year after year and that I've gotten as I give myself is the KitchenAid stand mixer. It is very beloved and good for anyone who has been making bread during quarantine and the pandemic"

FOX 2: "How do you find the best price?"

"When you were on Google and you're looking for a particular item, is click on the shopping tab," she said. "And that's when you'll get into a bunch of features that I think are really useful. One of them has a price insight module and what that's gonna do is show you whether the price is low, typical or high for a given product. So that way you can understand whether a sale is actually a good sale."

FOX 2: "I know there's a price tracker too and a price comparison grid. What about shopping local. How can we use Google to shop local?"

"There are ways to connect with local businesses online and I am a Detroit native myself so I really care about the businesses in our community," VandenBerg said. "And a tool that I really recommend myself, for finding them and supporting them, is Google Maps. I really love to support local bookstores throughout the year, so if you search for something like 'bookstore near me' and it will bring up all of the business information and the hours and whether they are adjusted. It will also show you how they're adapting to those times whether they are doing in-store shopping or whether they're doing curbside pick up, or you can order things online linked to the website. Or even if there's plexiglass at the checkout, It can help you identify the businesses in your neighborhood giving you ways to support them and helping you make an informed decision all at the same time."