From discovery to decision: The role of visual search and video in holiday shopping

This holiday season, the most powerful shopping assistants aren’t only in stores. They’re in our pockets and on our screens. A powerful combination of visual search and online video is quietly reshaping how today’s consumers discover, research, and ultimately decide what to buy. For marketers who understand this shift, the opportunities are immense.

Discovery is multimodal: Visual search and video spark shopping journeys

The shopping journey is no longer linear. Shoppers move fluidly between formats — scrolling, streaming, searching, and shopping — often in the same moment.

Visual search has become one of the most immediate entry points. Lens queries are one of the fastest growing types of search, with more than 25 billion queries per month.¹ And 1 in 5 Google Lens searches shows commercial intent.² Younger users who have tried Circle to Search before now use it to start more than 10% of their searches.³ These tools allow shoppers to act instantly — circling a product on screen, snapping a photo in-store, or scanning packaging for quick product information and easy comparisons.

Video is another powerful driver of discovery. Eighty-one percent of viewers in the U.S. agree that YouTube has creator content that helps them research and discover products when shopping, outperforming the social media average (69%), which includes Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.⁴ In fact, 58% of surveyed respondents in the U.S. said advertising on YouTube Shorts introduces them to new brands/products, which is higher than other short-form video platforms.⁵

From short-form videos on mobile to immersive ads on connected TVs, shoppers today encounter a range of video content that inspires them to learn more about brands and products they discover online.

From discovery to decision: Trusted platforms and creators drive confidence

Discovery only opens the door. Before purchasing, shoppers gather information to inform their decision-making through visual search and video.

Search is the no. 1 way shoppers confirm facts like quality and durability, good reviews and ratings, and brand reputation.⁶ Beyond price, 48% of shoppers say value is about quality and durability.⁷ That makes updated product feeds, accurate product details, and strong visuals on product pages critical.

YouTube is where shoppers go to make confident shopping decisions. Viewers in the U.S. rank YouTube as the no. 1 video platform when they want to research, vet, or make a decision about a brand, product, or service that they want to buy, outperforming all competitors including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.⁸

And viewers in the U.S. agree that YouTube has the best shopping-related video content, including instructional videos (91%), product reviews (81%), and unboxing videos (76%), outperforming the competitive average.⁹ The ability to move seamlessly from quick inspiration on Shorts to in-depth deep-dive reviews on the living-room screen is only possible on YouTube, making it the destination of choice in today’s shopping journey.

Trust is central to decision-making. According to a survey conducted by Kantar, 78% of viewers in the U.S. agree that YouTube has the most trusted creators for product recommendations while shopping, outperforming the social media average (67%).¹⁰ That trust translates into decisions: 80% of viewers in the U.S. agree that YouTube helps them make more confident shopping decisions, outperforming the competitive average (56%).¹¹

What marketers can do to maximize this year’s holiday shopping season

Holiday shoppers are blending visual discovery with video-driven product information, reviews, and recommendations. To meet them, marketers should focus on four priorities.

1. Scale creative for visual discovery

On average, consumers interact with over 130 mobile online touchpoints a day.¹² Winning brands tailor their assets for different surfaces, formats, and contexts, using AI to scale their creative.

• Use Google Product Studio to refresh creative with holiday-specific treatments, generate gifting-themed backgrounds, and highlight bundles or seasonal offers.
• Use Google Asset Studio to scale text, image, and video variations across Search, Display, and Discover.

2. Harness the power of YouTube

According to an Ipsos survey, YouTube is the no. 1 platform consumers say they use for holiday shopping compared with other video/social platforms.¹³ To capitalize on this, marketers must:

• Build campaigns across formats: long-form video for in-depth product reviews, livestreams for interactive Q&A with creators, and Shorts for fast inspiration.
• With the new video management tools in Google Merchant Center rolling out in October, marketers will be able to see all video assets in one central library, where Google AI instantly analyzes them and connects products, making every video shoppable.
• Use Demand Gen video to reach new audiences during high-intent holiday moments.
• Enable brand discovery with new shoppable formats in Performance Max, shoppable CTV, and YouTube Shorts.

3. Build trust with creators and product cues

• Partner with creators whose brand and product recommendations align with your brand and marketing objectives.
• Pair creator content with strong product visuals that highlight qualities, like durability and reliability, which shoppers actively validate using Search.
• Keep Google Merchant Center feeds accurate so that when a shopper validates a product after seeing it in video, the details align seamlessly and support an easy purchase decision.

4. Use AI to optimize and connect

• Activate Performance Max to unify creative from Merchant Center, Product Studio, and Asset Studio, ensuring the right asset appears across Search, YouTube Shorts, Display, and Discover.
• Optimize dynamically so discovery in video connects seamlessly to validation in Search and vice versa.

Success this holiday season belongs to marketers who grasp that visual search and online video have transformed shopper discovery, research, and decision-making. By adapting to this multimodal shopping journey, brands can unlock immense opportunities for deep customer engagement and growth.