Amazon Prime subscribers love their free two-day shipping, but Google may show up the e-tailer with a less expensive service offering same-day delivery from brick-and-mortar retailers.
TechCrunch reported this week that Google may quietly launch a new e-commerce initiative known as Google Shopping Express.
According to sources, the same-day delivery service would undercut Amazon's popular $79 per year Prime offering, which gives subscribers free two-day shipping on almost everything the e-tailer sells.
Reportedly led by Tom Fallows, Google e-commerce product manager, Shopping Express is being positioned as $10 to $15 less expensive than Amazon Prime, with same-day delivery from select retailers.
No more waiting
Priced at $64 or $69 per year, Google Shopping Express would deliver products the same day they are ordered from brick-and-mortar retailers such as Target, Walmart, Walgreens and Safeway.
Amazon has also been testing new ways to deliver goods purchased online, an idea Google appears to want a piece of as well, judging from its recent acquisition of BufferBox.
Currently available only in Canada, BufferBox offers consumers a central, convenient place to pick up packages at any time of day, although it's unclear how Google might implement the service into Shopping Express, if at all.
When asked, a Google spokesperson was unsurprisingly reticent to give too much away:
"We are always working to build a delightful shopping experience for users, in close partnership with retailers, and to empower businesses of all sizes to compete effectively.
"We will continue to work toward providing technology, tools and traffic to help power the retail ecosystem but have nothing to announce at this time."
Shopping Express, if it every happens, could be a big boost for Google Wallet and Google Shopping, Mountain View's existing e-commerce offerings which have largely floundered, despite being tied into the company's core search engine service.