<p>Amazon has been on a quest to become the king of on-demand delivery for quite some time, but there’s a <B>new contender</b> in the ring and its name is Google. Google is partnering with companies like Costco, Target, and Whole Foods to deliver non-perishable products to shoppers as part of its recently expanded same-day grocery delivery service, <B>Google Shopping Express</b>. Just when you thought AmazonFresh or Amazon Pantry were the hottest things in online grocery, Google has decided to step up its game. <B>Could Google Shopping Express be the precursor to GoogleFresh?</b> </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p> <img class="small-cropped-image" src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacySmallCroppedImages/google_shopping_express_may_2014_body_01.jpg" alt="050514 cropped" />While Amazon has invested heavily in building its own infrastructure to house perishable products and create its own private fleet of delivery trucks, Google is taking a <B>different approach</b> to online grocery delivery by partnering with retailers and delivering non-perishable products to homes via third-party delivery agents, according to Los Angeles Times. While Google’s model is fundamentally different than Amazon’s, there’s no reason why Google can’t look into delivering fresh produce as the next step as well. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p> Online grocery services are still a relatively <B>unexplored space</b>. If companies like Google or Amazon can successfully tap into fresh produce delivery, we might just see a <B>huge shift</b> in the way consumers shop for groceries. We're already seeing it with millennial shoppers. Millennials have an annual direct spending power estimated at <B>$200 billion</b>, while their indirect spending power is around <B>$500 billion</b>. Retailers like Wal-Mart and Safeway are already delivering groceries to homes, while Kroger and Loblaw are testing out “click-and-collect” services where users can order groceries online and pick them up at the store. Big box retailers like these might already be engaging with millennial shoppers online, but what happens when Google or Amazon start taking a greater share of that market? As we discussed in Volume 4 of The Snack, millennials shop <B>more frequently</b> than non-millennials, and it’s not too unreasonable to think that a fair number of those consumers would be doing some of that shopping online.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/thesnack/downloads/theSnack_issue_4.pdf.zip" target="_new"> Click here to download Volume 4 of The Snack Magazine</a><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/google_shopping_express_may_2014_body04.jpg" alt="050514 cropped" /><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">A question that perplexes me is whether or not consumers in the U.S. would gravitate toward online grocery shopping. There’s pros and cons to both sides of the argument. For example, some shoppers prefer the <B>convenience</b> of online shopping, while others simply enjoy going to the store and picking up the items themselves. Amazon doesn’t report its results for AmazonFresh, but if Google and Amazon’s recent expansions into new cities are anything to consider, they must be seeing great consumer response so far, especially among millennials. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p> Shoppers in West Los Angeles, Manhattan, or the Bay Area (where the service originally started) can visit <B>google.com/express</b> and shop for items to be delivered in a specified time frame. Compared to Amazon, there is no minimum purchase for the order and users can now sign up for a 6-month free trial or pay $4.99 per item for “a la carte shipping.” The Los Angeles Times reports that Google is still considering how to price the service and will allow customers to opt in to a longer-term subscription once it does.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p> Will Google Shopping Express expand into fresh produce? Google already has the retailers, and we’ve all seen how Google likes to try out new ideas. I can’t wait to see where Google will take this idea and I admire their determination to innovate, but as far as the success of this program...only time will tell. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.google.com/express" target="_new"> Google Shopping Express </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
