For the last year or so we have seen Google taking on a much more offensive role on their sales front, with the introduction of the Android operating system and their new Nexus One phone. However the magic of Google has always been in their free software products.

First introduced in 2007, Google Street View was an amazing new technology that allowed you to travel through a virtual world courtesy of Google who had taken the time to map out every street of select countries.

Rumors suggest that Google Store View will be coming soon This technology would allow you to go inside certain buildings, such as high street stores to explore the store. The potential for this new system is staggering.

For the last few years high-street stores have been suffering at the hands of companies such as Amazon, it is hard for them to compete for low prices and convenience of an online store. With Google Store View this could change.

For example if the store was able to index their inventory through the Google Street View platform (much in the same way small businesses can log their opening times and details on Google maps), then when the customer searches for a certain product using Google, there could be a search result containing where the item may be located near you.

While we all love online shopping and the convenience of it, the instant gratification of a physical exchange in a shop beats it every time, plus there is no delivery waiting time.

Imagine you need a cable or connector for a new television you had delivered on a Saturday, you obviously want to be using the television as soon as possible, but the soonest you could get the cable delivered from Amazon was Tuesday.

Google Store View could then step in, showing you local stores that contain the right cable and compare prices there and then.

If we look into the future this technology could be adapted to give you a live virtual tour through the store to see what was on offer that day, the shop owners then updating the photos logged by store view each morning. Google Store View could be the high street store’s saviour in a world of online shopping.

What do you think, is Store View going to revolutionize the way we shop or is the world of e-commerce to powerful?