Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2013/03/06/google_shopping_express_trial/
Google to offer 'same-day delivery' Amazon Prime killer - report
New shopping service at least $10 cheaper too, whisper sources
Posted in On-Prem, 6th March 2013 13:04 GMT
Google is reportedly prepping a new shopping delivery service to compete with Amazon's Prime subscriber service, called "Google Shopping Express".
Just for a bit of oneupmanship, Express will give folks same-day delivery instead of Prime's two-day promise, Reuters and TechCrunch reported a source "familiar with the test" as saying.
Google wouldn't give any details about the service or even directly acknowledge its existence (of course) but a spokesperson did have this to say in a canned statement to The Reg:
We are working to build a delightful shopping experience for users, in close partnership with retailers, and to empower businesses of all sizes to compete effectively. We will continue to work toward providing technology, tools and traffic to help power the retail ecosystem but have nothing to announce at this time.
If the Chocolate Factory is trialling the Express service, it's happening in San Francisco and will be $10 or $15 cheaper than Amazon Prime should it ever actually be released, according to rumour.
Google will arrange for couriers to pick the products up from local stores and deliver them to the internet shopper, thereby removing any need to have warehouses or logistics of its own.
A Google product management director Tom Fallows, who has ten years of ecommerce experience, is apparently in charge of the new service.
Mountain View has already hinted that it's interested in extending its tentacles into one of the few areas of the internet where it isn't already dominant by snapping up inventory-tracking software firm Channel Intelligence for a decent $125m last month. The company helps folks track online transactions and drive referred sales that come from Facebook and search engines and other platforms.
Google said at the time of the acquisition that it hoped to "improve shopping experience" with the buy. ®