back to article Google to offer 'same-day delivery' Amazon Prime killer - report

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 …

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  1. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Holmes

    I find with most online ordering

    that it's not a question of when it comes but *how* it comes.

    There is usually no indication whether something will come via mail (and will fit through the letterbox) or parcel mail (and will go back to the local post office depot) or via a courier whose depot is sixty miles away... or my favourite: being told the evening before delivery that it will be delivered tomorrow and if you're not in it will be returned to the seller, with one chance to change the day to, er, the day after tomorrow.

    I suspect most don't care when it comes if it's within a day or two... it's how it gets there, and knowing before you feed in the credit card authorisation.

    1. Keith Bee
      Facepalm

      Re: I find with most online ordering

      I'm surprised there hasn't been a significant overhaul of how we get post. Parcels are still delivered to homes during the day when most people are at work, and if you try to get it sent to work the seller won't deliver to an address other than the billing address. So you come home to a card though the door and the prospect of another tedious trip to the sorting office/depot/post office. Sort it out!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I find with most online ordering

      Same goes for the high street. Why do they open at 9am and close at 5.30pm? Okay, some big out of town stores close around 8pm.

      High street stores complain about supermarkets and online businesses taking their custom but do they do anything about it? nope.

      Imagine if when logging onto Amazon after 5.30 it said "Sorry we are closed, come back tomorrow at 9am".

      Supermarkets are open late, that's why people buy stuff from them. They also will deliver to you after 5.30, why a local business can't do the same I don't know?

      1. Graham Marsden
        Boffin

        Same goes for the high street. Why do they open at 9am and close at 5.30pm?

        Perhaps because people don't *want* to work all day and all night? Perhaps because the stores can't afford to employ the extra staff and pay for the extra lighting and heating that opening late would involve?

        Perhaps people have *lives* they want to enjoy...

        1. PrivateCitizen

          Re: Same goes for the high street. Why do they open at 9am and close at 5.30pm?

          "Perhaps because people don't *want* to work all day and all night? Perhaps because the stores can't afford to employ the extra staff and pay for the extra lighting and heating that opening late would involve?"

          This is on the assumption that being open outside "normal" working hours means the store has to be open 24/7.

          The stores that cant afford to be open the extra hours are still paying to be open at times of the day when no customers visit. This makes no sense.

          Obviously it would depend on some sound market research but there would be nothing stopping a shop targeting working people opening at 1600 and closing at 2330hrs each day. No extra staff needed and if that is the time the customers visit, it makes much more sense than being open 0900 - 1700hrs.

          My closest high street is virtually a ghost town during the day. There are some old people walking around and there are a lot of unemployed people walking around. The overwhelming majority of shops have silent tills and bored staff gossiping with each other. However from about 1530 onwards things change and the last hour the shops are open (generally 1700 - 1800), they are busy with lots of customers and queues at the till as people try to shop before closing time..

          Most of the shops could close until 1400hrs without any noticeable loss of revenue and staying open to 2000hrs or later would likely bring in extra customers.

          Its not about hiring extra staff, it certainly is not about making people work all day and night (who suggested that or is it just a strawman to scare people off the idea?), it is about being open at a time that suits your customer base.

          Nightclubs and restaurants are a good example. Why open when you customers dont need you?

          1. Jess--

            Re: Same goes for the high street. Why do they open at 9am and close at 5.30pm?

            one slight downfall with this plan...

            if the majority of business switched to a 2 - 8pm opening times then where would the majority of people be between 2 - 8pm?

  2. Rufus McDufus

    Free delivery better

    Anyone find Amazon Prime absolutely rubbish? Their next day delivery seems to take more days than the standard free delivery, and often gets into to clutches of Home Delivery Network which seems to be staffed by mentally-ill people. I recently had to wait several weeks for a 'next day' delivery. The excuse from the HDNL guy was 'my car broke down'. What, for three weeks?! This wouldn't be so bad but I had the exact same excuse a year or two ago from a different HDNL person.

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Re: Free delivery better

      Nope. Everything arrives next day or the day after depending when I order.

      Although I will say their free delivery is pretty good, way better than play.com.

      1. reno79

        Re: Free delivery better

        Play.com went downhill for me when they got taken over by Rakuten or whatever they are called. 50% of the stuff is no long sold by the company, rather a bunch of resellers who don't seem to hold themselves to any kind of standard. I purchased two items on the same day from two different resellers, one was delivered in 3 days, the other took almost 9 days.

    2. BikNorton

      Re: Free delivery better

      Prime's been faultless for me, delivering to home or work... except when they give stuff to Royal Mail, who in the last 6 months have broken the next day guarantee every single time. Complaining to Amazon gets me a month extension (each time) but what I want is for them to stop sending me stuff by bloody Royal Mail.

      Amazon already offer next day and even same day services in the UK though - surely they haven't rolled them out here before the US?

    3. Ol'Peculier
      FAIL

      Re: Free delivery better

      I was offered a free trial for Prime last year when I purchased a BluRay for a christmas present. Despite the delivery address clearly showing it was a business address, HDN tried to deliver it at 10pm at night!

    4. fnj

      Re: Free delivery better

      Nope. Not me. Sorry, everything I order for next day from Amazon without exception gets here the next day on the UPS truck with a bright and friendly driver, packages always in excellent shape. Standard shipping is not much use though. More often than not they use some awful trans-ship-to-post-office service and it I rarely can check the post office more than once or twice a week.

      Whatever HDNL is, it must suck to be stuck with it.

    5. TS

      Re: Free delivery better

      Not sure where you are, but in the States it started sucking two years ago.

      I've been a prime member since it started. It was great for several years... until UPS and FedEdx decided to change the way they deliver packages.

      Now both drop packages off at the local US Postal Service location, and then tell Amazon "it's been delivered". You check with UPS and FedEx tracking, and both will show the package has been "delivered"... but it's sitting in your local post office.

      Who knows when the local post office will get around to actually getting it out the door. Could be the same day, or could be three. I've called UPS and FedEx fuming about a package that was suppose to arrive in two days but was still somewhere in the local mail after four.

      Some things do arrive quickly; books, DVDs, some electronics shipped from the local Amazon warehouse always arrives in two days. But other stuff can take much longer even with two day shipping.

      Oh, and more and more I see it says "order in the next 8 hours and select two day free shipping and have it Friday!" but after you've purchased it, it says to expect delivery next Tuesday! And Amazon says Delivered! but I won't get it from the USPS until Thursday!

      Not really sure it's worth it... unless you use prime videos.

    6. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Free delivery better

      Yes. I've subscribed to Prime twice in the last few years (in the UK). Each time I've placed an order with the Prime "free next day delivery" it has taken several days to arrive (usually courtesy of HDNL). Their regular free delivery (within 5 to 7 working days or whatever it's supposed to be) is actually faster. Pointless

    7. PrivateCitizen

      Re: Free delivery better

      "Anyone find Amazon Prime absolutely rubbish?"

      Nope.

      In general, 9 out of 10 orders arrive on the guaranteed date - this dips around Christmas but the averages out to about 90%. Every time they have missed this, I have complained and had the membership extended.

  3. Robert Ramsay
    Coat

    The only reason we still have shops

    ...is that all courier/postal firms are equally wank. If anyone ever made a courier firm that did its job without making you lie on the floor and bite the carpet in fury, almost every kind of shop would vanish in a trice.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    oh yes, please

    I want IT - FASTER, MORE FASTER!!!!!

    cause 2 days is like sooooooo fucking long and by that time I will have lost all the interest in what I bought. I want it, and I want it NOOOOOOW :((((

    1. Rufus McDufus

      Re: oh yes, please

      Though it be fair if you're paying for next day delivery that's what you should get.

      Personally my fastest delivery was five minutes. OK, I worked for Amazon for many years, and that was back in the day when system engineers worked in the same building as the distribution centre.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hmmm… Good luck!

    Amazon is a tough act to follow.

    1. Pet Peeve
      FAIL

      Re: Hmmm… Good luck!

      Indeed. I don't see how "running off to a store and buying it off the shelf for delivery" has the slightest chance of competing with Amazon. A) It doesn't scale - eventually you have to have people stationed at stores shopping all day, B) You are at the mercy of the retailer for what you pay, which changes from day to day at brick and mortar stores, C) Retailers will hate your guts (worse than restaurants hate OpenTable) and will mess with your couriers or kick them out of the store, and D) You have to pay local sales tax.

      Crowdsourced material distribution is a stupid idea. Google can feel free to beta their buying service, but I'll be sticking with my outstanding amazon prime service, thank you very much.

  6. myarse
    FAIL

    Yodel then

    The only way I could see this being financially viable is if they use a service like Yodel, I'd rather wait two days for Royal Mail.

    1. reno79

      Re: Yodel then

      Same here, every package I've had delivered via Yodel (or HND for the most part) have turned up looking like they've played football with it on the way through.

  7. JDX Gold badge

    Sounds messy

    So I have to search a whole list of shops for the product I want, then check if the cheapest is part of Google Express, then order? If it is delayed or doesn't turn up, who do I chase up?

    Whereas with Amazon I just go to their site, order it and chase Amazon if there is an issue, and they will undoubtedly ship a replacement immediately, rather than wait to see where the original turns up.

    I find Google product search is pretty annoying to start with, but maybe that's just my shopping habits.

  8. Identity
    Thumb Up

    A voice from the cheap seats...

    Here in the States, Amazon Prime is quite a bargain. Selection and delivery are usually quite good — on time, with only one item damaged (it had been opened, damaged, returned and shipped out again as new) in a year — and that problem was reasonably swiftly taken care of. I used to use the Google Shopping page to compare prices, but since they've decided to feature those who pay them and ignore many others, I've stopped that. Will the Google service be tied into Google Shopping? That would be bad news for them, an extra day of delivery notwithstanding.

    Into the bargain, Prime provides free Amazon video, which has a pretty large catalog. Is Google going to offer something to compete with THAT?

    P.S. If more and more speed is your thing, check out James Gleick's "Faster" http://fasterbook.com/reviewpw.shtml

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Once again

    Unless it's already in top-secret progress, I still can't see why Amazon et al cab't tie up with the big supermarkets and set up a proper infrastructure of lockers.

    They could also tie up with local shops for the same.

    That would solve the "not in" problem. Might also help keep some local shops open.

    If I worked for Tescos (for example) I would be suggesting this to Amazon.

    1. Thecowking

      Re: Once again

      In the Co-op by Cambridge train station, there is an Amazon locker.

      I get everything Primed to the office, but it's nice to know it's there if I needed it.

    2. BikNorton

      Re: Once again

      "Collect+" - it's started. My nearest drop point is the Asda petrol station a mile away. Amazon now want me to drop RMA items there instead of taking them to the post office.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's pretty unlikely

    It's pretty unlikely that many suppliers can deliver the "same day". The majority who actually have the item in stock could deliver next day - but for a premium price. Same day would be limited to local deliveries only. In order for this system to work for a $10. premium, the volume needs to be very high for a vendor or it's a profit loser.

    As noted by other commenters, often the delivery service is fine but the processing time is absurd. When it takes 2-5 days to "process" an order before it is actually shipped, it's a typical case of the seller not really having the item in stock, contrary to their online claims. They in fact get it from their warehouse supplier after you place your order. That is why it takes 2-5 days to "process" an order. This is in fact consumer fraud but until these unscrupulous vendors are held accountable, these illegal practices will continue.

  11. JDX Gold badge

    I thought Amazon were already on schedule (in the US) to have free same day delivery as standard in major cities, by having massive warehouses?

  12. Gene Cash Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    "pick the products up from local stores"

    My local stores typically have nothing. Every time I walk into Best Buy they don't have what I need. I still remember when they laughed at me for wanting a wired network card when "everything's wireless now and we haven't had wired stuff since October!"

    It's so bad, my New Year's resolution was to buy as much as possible online and do no local shopping except for groceries and clothes.

    Icon for what they have up their asses.

  13. Ian Ringrose

    We had one item delivered with amazon prime, amazon sent it next day with royal mail. The item would have fitted though the post-box, however royal mail need someone to sign to any item sent “next day”….

  14. Blitheringeejit
    Coat

    O happy day...

    ... now I can switch from boycotting Amazon for not paying their UK corporation tax to boycotting Google for not paying their UK corporation tax.

    Mine's the only one in the cloakroom without a f***ing gift voucher in the pocket...

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Re: O happy day...

      If you feel so bad about it than rather than boycotting them, why don't you buy from amazon, work out the CT they haven't paid and therefore lowered their prices by, and then give it to HMRC directly (yes they do accept donations).

      I'm guessing the reason why not is that you're a hypocrite who is happy to be outraged and moralistic about others, as long as it doesn't hurt their own pocket.

  15. Nagy, Balázs András
    Thumb Down

    delivering what?

    At most, Google sells Nexus phones and tablets. And only in a few countries. So why the new delivery method? Will they open an Amazon-like marketplace of their own? I doubt it. And even if they do, this will be a US-only affair for years, if not decades.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "improve shopping experience"

    Not once, but twice. Must be shite

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Same day delivery of search results?

    Heck, even Microsoft bong manages that.

  18. SunBoy
    WTF?

    Really?? They cant even allocate me an in stock Nexus 7 in 15 days - how do they expect to do this??

    Google delivery are an absolute joke!

    Ordered a Nexus 7 - 15 days later, it still was showing as pending/pre-order - this was despite daily calls, emails to customer services.

    Customer services are absolutely useless - they lie and make up serious works of fiction. On top of this, they cannot call you back, you cannot talk to the same person because it "is simply impossible to transfer the call" and their frontline can only email their "specialists" who will supposedly respond within 24-48hrs.....

    So, how on earth are google going to be able to pull off same day delivery?????

    Was quite happy to wait the original 3-5days quoted - but 15 days for a fondleslab???

  19. earl grey
    Mushroom

    Seriously doubt Google can deliver

    Even before Amazon prime was available, i had no complaints about their delivery schedule and when i got a wrong selection, they shipped the correct one same day and emailed me a prepaid RMA. Now that i leech off prime from one of the sprog, it's an even better deal. I do see room for Amazon to improve their merchandise line (yeah, there are plenty of things they don't list); but Google shopping....? WTF is Google shopping? Even with their search engine expertise, their "shopping" feature is a big zero. Either they will have to compete with Amazon on Amazon's home turf, or they will most likely fail.

  20. chris lively
    Mushroom

    First, "same day" means jack and shit. "next day" already means sometime in the next 4, "2 day" means when we get around to it and god help you if you pick ground.

    Seems to me that store owners will simply say that "order processing" takes 5 days and then you'll get it that "same day". Whatever. The problem isn't how long shipping takes. The problem is all that wasted time they don't tell you about before it ships.

    Newegg.com rocks. Before I buy something from them they tell me when it will be shipped. In other words if I buy something at 9:00am it ships that day. If I buy around 4:00pm, it goes out the following day. Easy enough. They have perhaps the single best store and shopping cart I've ever seen. Easy to find things because it's all properly categorized. Easy to comparison shop, and easy to know how much and when.

    Amazon and google both could learn a lot from that company. Amazons search is crap and both of them give shop owners too much leeway in how things are categorized. With important info often left out.

  21. Matt Morgan

    Who remembers Kozmo?

    This is essentially the service offered by Kozmo, the poster-child for the internet bubble and burst. We lose money on every customer, but with volume, anything is possible!

    The truth is it will only make sense for Google for the data they collect on shopping patterns. They'll lose money on it just like Kozmo did; but in this case, you're the real product.

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