Google announced last week its same-day delivery known as Google Shopping Express in the San Francisco area, according to an article on Mashable.com. Consumers in the San Francisco area can now order items online from nine big retailers when using the Google service.
Some of the big retailers include Target, Walgreens and Office Depot and consumers can schedule to have the items delivered later the same day, according to Mashable.
Those living in the Bay area have the option to sign up to be one of a limited number of beta testers for the service. If accepted, they will receive six months of free deliveries. Retailers can also apply to be part of the service. Those retailers who are accepted must supply Google with a daily feed of data indicating which items are currently in stock in stores, according to Mashable.
TechCrunch reported last month the service could be $10 to $15 cheaper than Amazon Prime. Fees could be anywhere between $69-$64 offering same-day delivery from than brick-and-mortar stores like Target, Walmart, Walgreens and Safeway. Google Shopping Express will be a competitor to Amazon Prime, eBay Now, Postmates’ and smaller startups like Instacart, according to TechCrunch.
According to Mashable, a source familiar with Google’s plans said there isn’t a pricing plan in place just yet. The company intends to price the service low enough that it becomes “an everyday possibility” for consumers, prices may be depend on how users engage with the service, according to the source.
Mashable reports Google will have no surcharge for delivery on top of the membership fee for the service. This will allow for products to cost exactly as much to have delivered as it would if it was picked up in the store.
Google will not have its own fleet of couriers, instead it will be working with partners, the source told Mashable. Couriers will wear Google Shopping Express uniforms to operate delivery trucks with Google branding on them in an effort to maintain a “consistent end-to-end user experience.”
While there isn’t a time frame yet, Google hopes to expand this new service beyond San Francisco and the West Coast.
Rumors of same-day delivery have been circulating for years for Google in order to compete with Amazon Prime, which offers a similar service that offers 1-2 day delivery on items for $79 a year, according to Mashable.
According to an article in the San Jose Mercury News, eBay announced plans of its own for new delivery and in-store pickup services. Ebay stock rose 4% last week after eBay made this announcement.
Ebay has laid out an aggressive plan to increase its online marketplace sales 47% by 2015 and it will improve it mobile technology and payment system, PayPal to dominate in emerging markets such as Russia, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
Ebay has big plans to become a global powerhouse, partnering with some of the world’s largest retailers such as Target, Best Buy and Toys R Us, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
The San Jose Mercury News reported that eBay aims to hit $110 billion in total merchandise sold through its online marketplace by 2015. Ebay also announced it will offer in-store pickup and scheduled delivery and that it will expand its same-day delivery service, eBay Now to Chicago and Dallas this summer.
Ebay Now launched in October in San Francisco, New York and San Jose in February. Customers can get purchases from local retailers that will be delivered within the hour to anywhere they want in the city.