Google has begun testing a new service called Google Shopping Express that it hopes will be able to offer same-day local delivery.
The service launched on Thursday in the San Francisco Bay Area, where residents can help Google test its same-day delivery initiative by ordering goods online from a variety of shops.
Currently the Google Shopping Express "experiment" is limited to San Francisco, but hopefully it will expand to other cities soon.
Either way, at least it's not being tested in Kansas City like Google Fiber is.
No more errands?
Google wrote in a Google Commerce blog post on Thursday that Google Shopping Express is another way the company is hoping to "bring the speed of the web to the real world."
Bay Area residents (in San Francisco and on the peninsula from San Mateo to San Jose) can sign up here and order groceries and other goods online to be delivered the very same day. A six-month trial membership to Google Shopping Express is free, though a Google spokesperson informed us that they're still ironing out a long-term pricing plan.
The service currently includes Target, Walgreens, Staples, Office Depot, American Eagle, Toys"R"Us, Babies"R"Us, and local SF businesses like Blue Cottle Coffee, Palo Alto Toy & Sport, and Raley's Nob Hill Foods.
"Hopefully, no more trips across town for simple errands," Tom Fallows, Google's product management director for Google Shopping Express, wrote in Thursday's blog post.
That's a lofty goal, but one we can definitely appreciate.
The holy grail of home shopping
Rumors of Google's same-day delivery scheme, which eventually took the shape of Google Shopping Express, first surfaced in October.
A more concrete report appeared earlier this month, and its predictions of Google Shopping Express turned out entirely accurate.
eBay has toyed with the idea of same-day delivery as well, and past rumors have suggested that Amazon will eventually launch its own same-day delivery service.
Regardless, here's hoping that Google's initiative takes off and expands to other cities (Los Angeles please?).
