Google Shopping Express Goes Public In Limited Areas

Earlier this month we talked about Google testing a new same-day shipping service for different types of goods to compete with Amazon Prime. At the time, we didn't know when the service would launch outside of the internal testing that was being conducted at the time. The Google Shopping Express service is now available to the public in limited areas of California.

The shopping services available to select users (meaning you have to apply and be accepted) in San Francisco and the peninsula area spanning San Mateo to San Jose. The service has several participating retailers including Target, Walgreens, Staples, American Eagle, Toys "R" Us, Office Depot, the Blue Bottle Coffee franchise, and more. The service will cost participants somewhere in the area of $64-$69 per year, but official pricing is unconfirmed.

Testers who get in during the testing period will get six months of the service for free and same-day delivery. The coolest part is that products ordered using Google Shopping Express cost the same price as they do in store. It's unclear if the same pricing via Google's service and in stores will only be during the test period are not.

I don't see how any money to be made if there isn't an additional shipping fee or convenience fee added. Google is still taking applications to test the Shopping Express service. Users of the service can choose different delivery time frames to have their items brought directly to their home.

[via TechCrunch]