WASHINGTON DC: In a direct challenge to Amazon, Google is rebranding and expanding its same-day delivery service to three more American cities, and will offer customers products from nine brands, the tech giant has announced.
Starting on Tuesday 14 October, the rebranded Google Express – launched a year ago in California as Google Shopping Express – has been made available to consumers in Washington DC, Boston and Chicago, the Washington Post reported.
It previously served only the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and parts of New York, and it is expected to provide a similar service to AmazonFresh.
Customers of AmazonFresh receive free delivery for purchases of more than $35, as long as they pay a $299 annual membership fee. Under Google's offer, customers will pay $10 a month, or $95 a year, for same-day orders over $15.
The service, which used to be free, also offers new shoppers three months of free membership. Non-members will pay $4.99 per order for purchases of at least $15.
Google Express will offer goods from nine brands – Babies "R" Us, Barnes & Noble, Costco, Giant Food, Guitar Center, L'Occitane, Sports Authority, Staples and Walgreens – many of these are already online advertising partners of Google.
The service is a natural extension of the company's interest in providing easy-to-use technology to connect businesses with consumers, explained Brian Elliott, head of Google Shopping Partnerships.
He said: "We see places where there are long-term needs in the market to create really great user experiences, where given our tech know-how and our reach with users, we can help make these things happen for merchants in a way that would be very hard for them to do on their own."
Starting on Tuesday 14 October, the rebranded Google Express – launched a year ago in California as Google Shopping Express – has been made available to consumers in Washington DC, Boston and Chicago, the Washington Post reported.
It previously served only the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and parts of New York, and it is expected to provide a similar service to AmazonFresh.
Customers of AmazonFresh receive free delivery for purchases of more than $35, as long as they pay a $299 annual membership fee. Under Google's offer, customers will pay $10 a month, or $95 a year, for same-day orders over $15.
The service, which used to be free, also offers new shoppers three months of free membership. Non-members will pay $4.99 per order for purchases of at least $15.
Google Express will offer goods from nine brands – Babies "R" Us, Barnes & Noble, Costco, Giant Food, Guitar Center, L'Occitane, Sports Authority, Staples and Walgreens – many of these are already online advertising partners of Google.
The service is a natural extension of the company's interest in providing easy-to-use technology to connect businesses with consumers, explained Brian Elliott, head of Google Shopping Partnerships.
He said: "We see places where there are long-term needs in the market to create really great user experiences, where given our tech know-how and our reach with users, we can help make these things happen for merchants in a way that would be very hard for them to do on their own."
Data sourced from Washington Post; additional content by Warc staff
