I've been surprised by how useful this has been over the past few months. Just last week I busted my phone USB charger by accidentally knocking it off the table and bending the connector. This was around 10pm, so I ordered a new one and it arrived around 10am the next morning on my doorstep, well before my phone ran out of battery. Call it a first world problem, but same-day (or next morning) delivery is a minor but surprisingly convenient luxury.
I don't have a car, so I always use public transit to go to and fro the store. My biggest joy for GSE is ordering heavy/bulky items, like laundry detergent and paper towels--and not having to lug them onto the bus! It's a very convenient luxury indeed.
Whenever I go shopping, I bring two canvas bags with me and fill them. That's all I can carry, basically. And having to fill a lot of that space with heavy detergent or bulky paper towels means I either need to go on a second shopping trip (which I don't want to do), or decide what things I'm /not/ getting that week.
So sure, some people might end up weaker, but I'm still lugging some heavy bags home with me each week.
I'd liken this to the "washing machine effect" that Hans Rosling explaned in his TED talk [1]. He essentially made the case that the washing machine made a huge difference in the history of the world so parents could spend more time with their kids (among other things) instead of many hours a week just washing clothes. I would say Google Shopping Express has a similar effect for shopping trips where the time spent greatly affects the amount of things an individual can accomplish in a day.
I've been using GSX for a few months, and it's incredibly convenient. When I think of something I need from the store, I open the mobile app and add it to my cart. Once a week or so I submit the order and it shows up at my door a couple hours later.
On one hand it saves me money because I don't impulse buy anything while walking through target. On the other hand, it's really easy to impulse buy stuff while sitting on the toilet.
I have been using this weekly since first getting access. Totally worth it. I've had a magsafe adapter (Staples) same-day delivered when I forgot mine at work, groceries when I wasn't able to swing by the store on the way home that day, etc. One of the best things is how the UI suggests your frequently bought items. This is a better way for me to restock household items than amzn subscribe and save, which has left me (via my own mistake in specifying interval) with enough q-tips to last through the year 3000.
Installed it on my iPad and tried to set up a credit card. Total failure. The UI is hideous and doesn't render properly on iPad. JavaScript validation error on page load disables the user -- can't go back, can't cancel out, and closing & re opening the app returns you to the frozen page. Who needs this aggravation? Uninstalled and wandered off. Back to shopping on Amazon.
I really hope Instacart and Postmates can compete with them! I see different use case for all of them. My first choice for groceries that i need the same day would be Instacart, i also love the on-demand food from great restaurants and the ability to get a few grocery items within the hour by Postmates and Google Shopping Express looks like a good Amazon alternative.
I like Instacart better than Google's service. Instacart delivers produce, butcher meat and seafood from Safeway, Costco, and Whole Foods.
One problem that I've noticed with these delivery services is that the freshest food is not always delivered. I'll take my time at the grocery store to find the best pick; these shoppers seem to grab the first thing they see.
GSX doesn't do groceries (yet). Even though they have Raley's and Whole Foods, you can't, for example, order essentials like Milk.
Which makes sense - mostly non-perishables shelf-able items. At first, the lack of groceries made me wonder if it was useful at all, but being able to find e.g. 2 gallon-sized jugs of distilled vinegar awaiting at my doorstep is quite nice (local stores often just don't carry the stuff).
Also Instacart has TJ's. That one store is a winner all by itself.
I think it's an important part of the model that there are no tips. This keeps the prices very attractive. You rarely see who brought you the package - you just find it by the door.
I've really loved using this service in the free beta, but I've often wondered whether I'd be willing to pay the delivery fee on a regular basis. We'll see!
If/when they start charging for GSE, Google should bundle it with unlimited play store content (a la prime). I will gladly pay as much as I pay Amazon.
I think for me, the delivery fee is going to really influence my frequency of buying. I never hesitate to think of one item I need--and order it for same or next day. I think once my beta period shuts off, I'll probably instead keep a running shopping cart of stuff and only order periodically.
This is useful for getting kitchen supplies for our 25 person office.
It's a small bummer that they don't deliver beer and wine from Whole Foods or Lucky for our Friday Beers but otherwise a great improvement in convenience. Given that Safeway delivers alcohol and Whole Foods and Lucky clearly stock it, it must be a policy by Google Shopping Express that prohibits beer and wine delivery.
I think part of the concern is that GSE seems to drop products and run, whereas Safeway drivers always have me sign for my package and get the bins unloaded before they go. I'd think there would be issues with leaving unattended alcohol, given this country's laws on controlling it.
If the long term goal is to sell items directly there is plenty of room for margins.
Combined with Google Now, you should rarely ever run out of anything you need.
I like thinking about how an urban environment re-arranges itself when you remove the need for most store fronts, and driving.
ATMs, CVS/Walgreens/Duane Reade, Target, Best Buy; these are all places that probably won't exist in the volume they do today in eight years. Whether it was low interest rates or other factors that made them multiply, it won't really matter. A mobile phone + a neighborhood distribution center should be all that is needed. Automating checkout won't be enough. (In an ATMs case, cash just won't be used except may be for narcotics.)
What happens to Starbucks, McDonald's, and other chain food service is a whole other question.
Collecting data about customer purchasing habits is valuable in the aggregate. Shopping Express links that data more general data about the customer's habits on the Web, etc. In some cases this will enable Google to serve the customer better, and in some cases this will enable Google to serve advertisers better.
Since its membership based, I imagine the same as amazon prime - when you have a cheap/easy/just awesome way to get a product, you are more likely to use it to purchase things in the future.
They saw Amazon Fresh, and are skating to where the puck will be. I'm guessing if it puts pressure on Amazon, it's worth it even if Google doesn't make big margins.
Does this represent a viable Google service, or is it just another perk for those living in San Frangoogle to be subsidized by the electronic serfs that are Google's users?
Because for years Google received unalloyed adoration from the tech community because they presented themselves as a genuinely better kind of company, but now that have shown themselves to be just another corporation that will say or do anything for profit, people are cynical about them.
If it's not viable, why do you think Google is expanding it after testing it for months?
Expanding to where exactly? Nationwide? Nope, a very small and high density area. Google's loses are limited.
Don't take it a snark, but this is not Google's main line of business at all and quite a few companies have gone under doing just this. Google can afford to lose a certain amount but expect this to end when Google's growth is slowed and spending cuts need to be made.
If you pay the same prices as in store, the money has to come out of somewhere and labor to deliver same isn't that cheap.
True, but I responded to a different comment. In essence the person I replied too was tired of people wondering if Google will stick this long term, considering their gazillion projects.
