Google Is Testing Same-Day
Delivery for Shoppers
OCTOBER 26, 2012, 5:32 PM
By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER
Google is now in the
same-day delivery business. In San Francisco, some people affiliated with
Google can buy a product, using their phones or computers, and have it
delivered to their homes in a matter of hours.
Plans for the new service
have been under way for more than a year. But it recently went live for some
Google employees and their friends, according to two people briefed on the
service who were not authorized to discuss it because Google has not yet
publicly introduced it. At least one national apparel chain is involved, one of
these people said. A Google spokesman, Nate Tyler, declined to comment.
Google is just one company
tackling same-day delivery. So are Wal-Mart Stores, Amazon.com, eBay and the
United States Postal Service.
Though the service propels
Google into commerce, the company does not intend to operate warehouses or a
shipping service but to team up with retailers and delivery companies. Several
San Francisco retailers, including national chains, are participating in the
program already.
For shoppers, the service
means they can avoid the trouble of driving to the store and some of the wait
for items ordered online.
Same-day delivery could
help physical retailers, which have been under siege from e-commerce companies that
offer the convenience of shopping without leaving home. But online retailers
offering same-day delivery could make life even harder for physical retailers,
because letting people own something the same day has become physical
retailers’ biggest remaining advantage.
The reasons that Google is
interested in same-day delivery are less obvious.
Retail ads are a huge
portion of Google’s business, but they are under threat from companies like
Amazon, where shoppers increasingly go to search for products, bypassing
Google. Also responding to the threat from Amazon, Google recently tried to
improve its comparison shopping service by charging retailers to list their
products there. It says retailers are more likely to list accurate and
up-to-date items if they are paying.
Additionally, Google has
been trying to bridge the gap between the digital and physical worlds to better
understand and profit from mobile ads. On computers, Google and advertisers
know if a user clicks on an ad and visits or buys on another Web site. But they
lose track of customers who look up a business or product on their phone and
then put their phone away, walk into the store and buy something. Online
ordering and delivery could help solve that problem.
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