Google Forays Into Fashion

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Google recently launched a fashion e-commerce site called Boutiques.com, which is an online platform for people to search for apparel and accessories.

We like this move by Google and believe it could potentially take search market share away from eBay(EBAY), Amazon(AMZN), Yahoo(YHOO) and others that participate in the online retail market.

We estimate that Google's search market share will rise from 68% now to about 71% in the next few years. However if Google expands into new verticals like Boutiques.com and market share climbs to around 80% instead, this would add about 8% to our Google price estimate of $632. Our price estimate is about 6% higher than the current market price.

What is Boutiques.com?

It hopes to become a one-stop shop for all of your retail and accessory needs. Boutiques.com leverages the visual search technology developed by like.com, which Google acquired in August 2010.

Boutiques.com directs you to sites where apparel and accessories can be purchased, and through this site, you can build your own personalized boutique and get recommendations of products that match your tastes.

Leads to Greater Market Share

Presently Google has around 68% market share. We believe this could grow if Google expands into e-commerce platforms like Boutiques.com. As one example, eBay grew its market share to about 1.6% of total searches by 2009 despite the presence of bigger search engines like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft(MSFT).

As e-commerce platforms, eBay and Amazon are helping attract customers online by giving them the ability to search a wide selection and get the best prices for any item. The online apparel and accessories market is a key part of this trend. This market is expected to increase from $19 billion in 2009 to $25 billion by 2010, accounting for 14% of the $173 billion U.S. online retailing market.

We believe that Google's superior search technology provides an edge if it pushes further into new verticals and market share gains would come at the expense of online retailers like eBay and Amazon.

You can see the complete $632 Trefis Price estimate for Google stock here.

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