How to Use Google Trends for Ecommerce Research

Google Trends is a free tool that shows how interest in a search term changes over time and by place. It won't tell you exactly how many people search for something, but it's very good at answering questions like "is this growing?", "when does demand peak?" and "where is it most popular?". For an online store, that's useful at every stage.

How to read the chart

Values run from 0 to 100. 100 is the highest point for your selected terms, location and period; everything else is relative to it. A value of 50 means half as much interest as the peak, not 50 searches. When you compare several terms, they are all scaled against the highest one.

Five ways to use it in ecommerce

1. Check whether demand is growing or fading

Set the period to the last five years. A steady rise suggests a growing market; a sharp spike followed by a fall often means a fad. Short periods can be misleading, so always look at the long view first.

2. Find seasonality

Many products have a clear yearly rhythm: swimwear, heaters, gifts, garden furniture. Seeing when interest starts rising tells you when to have stock in place and when to start ads and email, usually a few weeks before the peak.

3. Compare product ideas or names

Add up to five terms to compare them. This helps choose between product ideas, or between ways of describing the same product ("hoodie" vs "sweatshirt"). Use the winning wording in titles, collections and ads.

4. Choose markets

The "Interest by region" view shows where a term is most popular, by country or by region within a country. If you plan to sell abroad, compare the same product in different markets, ideally in each country's own language. See our guide to selling internationally with Shopify.

5. Find related topics and rising searches

The "Related queries" panel lists searches connected to your term. Those marked "Rising" or "Breakout" are growing fast, which can point to new product variants, content ideas or keywords.

Tips for reliable results

• Use topics (marked as such in the search box) when you want all ways of searching for a thing; use search terms for exact wording.
• Switch between Web search, Image search, Shopping and YouTube. Shopping interest is often closest to buying intent.
• Compare like with like: the same country, the same period.
• Combine Trends with absolute volumes from a keyword tool before making big decisions.

A quick workflow for a new product

1. Look at five years of interest in your main market.
2. Note the seasonal peaks and the trend direction.
3. Compare two or three ways of naming the product.
4. Check the related rising queries for angles and variants.
5. Confirm volumes in a keyword tool, then decide.

Our guide to what to sell online shows how Trends fits into choosing products. If you want help turning research into a plan, see our Shopify consulting service.