Expected to reach 70 million people now in US.
Google Express has expanded its service to all of the New York state in an attempt to curb the penetration of its rival Amazon, reported Tech Crunch.
Google Express ensures one day delivery of a wide range of consumer products from a variety of retailers. With the expansion, Google Express is expected to reach about 70 million people which is crucial for the tech giant to fight its rival Amazon Prime.
“Our goal with Google Express is to offer a great shopping experience and connect people with their favorite stores,†said Brian Elliott, General Manager of Google Express.
Consumers can order products from the website or mobile app from different retailers including Costco, Kohl’s, L’Occitane, PetSmart, Stop & Shop / Giant Food (depending on city) Sur La Table, Ulta Beauty, Payless, Adorama, Road Runner, Vitamin Shoppe, Whole Foods, TRU/BRU and Paragon.
In metro areas, the order will reach the customers on the same day, while it may take one or two days to deliver the products in the suburban area. The move is to check the growth of Amazon, whose Prime Now service offers one day delivery in major cities, and Prime service ensures two-day delivery across the US irrespective of the city or urban area where the customer belongs.
Apart from fighting Amazon, Google is trying to protect its advertisement revenue from its search engine that lost about six percent of its web traffic when people switched to Amazon for product searches.
The percentage of US customers doing product search directly on Amazon has increased 11 percent from 44 last year to 55 percent in 2016.
In order to focus on the business which is easier to scale, Google has decided to end its fresh grocery delivery service.
“You have to build the platform a step at a time, and it’s easier to build with national reach and mostly national players. As we continue to build out the tools, we absolutely want to onboard more local businesses,†Elliot said.
Customers can avail Google Express service by paying $95 for a year or by paying $4.99 per order.