Skip to main content
The Keyword

4 shopping tools to help you avoid buyer's remorse

An illustration of a phone showing models wearing green shirts and blue pants on its screen. Shopping-related icons float in the background, including shopping carts and star reviews.

Like many other shoppers, I never want to miss out on a good deal. But whenever I impulsively buy something during a sale, I find myself questioning: Was that actually a good discount? What if there’s a better one out there? Do I even really want this?

Buyer’s remorse is real and not an easy feeling to shake. And it happens to plenty of shoppers. To better understand this phenomenon, we recently conducted a survey of over 1,000 Americans ages 18 and up, asking them about their shopping habits and experiences with buyer’s remorse. 1

Nine out of ten say they experience buyer’s remorse at least some of the time from impulse purchases, and 42% say they’ve bought something because it was on sale, then later regretted it. And while there are many different reasons people feel buyer’s remorse — ranging from guilt over buying gifts for themselves (48%) to impulsivity (42%) — one thing’s for certain: it’s not a good feeling.

So if you’re prone to experiencing buyer's remorse, take the time to research your options and find out what else is out there. Let’s look at four Google shopping tools that can help you say goodbye to buyer’s remorse.

1. Compare prices

Fifty-three percent of shoppers say being able to compare prices from retailers and brands would help prevent buyer’s remorse. The next time you get the impulse to buy something, shoppers in the U.S., India and Japan can find the product on Google and tap its image to compare prices from different stores. You might find it’s available somewhere else for a lower price.

A phone shows a search for “shop cornhole.” The cursor scrolls and clicks a product with a “sale” badge and price comparisons appear.

Price comparison lets you compare a product’s price across retailers.

2. Research complex purchases

Forty-seven percent of shoppers say being able to research a product would help prevent buyer’s remorse. Search Generative Experience (SGE) in Search Labs gives shoppers in the U.S. a snapshot of top considerations to keep in mind before buying and helps you compare products side by side — which is especially helpful for complex purchases. Learn more and get started at labs.google.com/search.

An animation shows the SGE experience for a search for “good bike for a 5 mile commute with hills,” including a helpful snapshot and products to consider.

Search Generative Experience (SGE) in Search Labs gives you an AI-powered snapshot of top considerations to keep in mind before buying, with product links to dive deeper.

3. Look up typical prices

A quarter of shoppers say seeing if a product is priced high, typical or low would help prevent buyer’s remorse. If this resonates with you, look no further than our price insights feature. It shows U.S. shoppers how a product’s price has changed over time and whether the price for a product is low, typical or high compared to other retailers across the web.

A phone shows a product page for a watersports slide. The product’s typical price is circled in red.

The price insights tool shows you the typical price for a product.

4. Try it on before you buy

Fifty-five percent of online apparel shoppers have returned an item because it looked different on them than expected. 2 Our new virtual try-on tool allows shoppers in the U.S. to virtually try on apparel — starting with women’s tops — on a diverse set of real people. So you can get a better idea of what a piece of clothing will look like on real models of varying sizes before you pull out your credit card.

A phone shows a cursor selecting different models wearing a green top in a virtual try-on tool.

Our virtual try-on feature allows you to virtually try on women’s tops on a diverse set of real models.


More Information


1

Source: Google/Ipsos Buyer's Remorse Survey, US, 2023, N=1,000 General Population Americans; May 12-14, 2023

2


Source: ​​Source: Google/Ipsos, Online shoppers survey, US, 2023, n=1614 of adults age 18 or older who have shopped for clothing online, 4/28/23-4/30/23


Let’s stay in touch. Get the latest news from Google in your inbox.

Subscribe