29 Mar New Retail Trend? Google testing same-day delivery service
March 28–Google, treading into Amazon.com territory, is launching an experimental same-day delivery service for online purchases.
The Mountain View, Calif., company is testing out Google Shopping Express starting in the Bay Area and is calling for users to sign up to be early testers of the service.
Google said users will be able to use Shopping Express to buy from a number of retailers, all on one online site. After users make their purchase, they can then select when they want the item to be delivered.
“It’s a local delivery service that we hope will make it possible for you to get the items you order online the same day, and at a low cost,” the company said in a blog post Thursday.
For now, the service will be available only to users who sign up as testers and live between San Francisco and San Jose. Early testers will be able to use the service for six months without having to pay delivery costs.
Users can purchase goods from Target, Walgreens, Staples, American Eagle, Toys R Us and Babies R Us as well as local Bay Area retailers Blue Bottle Coffee, Palo Alto Toy Sport and Nob Hill Foods.
Users interested in signing up to test Google Shopping Express can do so on the service’s Website. Google is also letting retailers go to the website to sign up and possibly be added to the service as it expands.
Google is the latest company to try out a same-day delivery service. Others include Amazon.com, which offers the service in select markets, and Ebay, which is testing out Ebay Now in San Francisco.