According to a report today from TechCrunch, Google is at work on its own version of Amazon's premium fast-shipping subscription service, Amazon Prime. The service would be called 'Google Shopping Express' and could undercut Amazon Prime's $79 annual membership rates by as much as $15. TechCrunch's report names Google e-commerce product manager Tom Fallows as the head of the project.
Assuming the report reflects what's on the way (Google had not responded to inquiries at press time), Google's Prime competitor would partner with brick and mortar retailers - Walmart, Target and the like. The service would tie into the Google's Amazon lookalike shopping portal, Google Shopping.
We'd be interested to see what a Google Shopping Express-like service might offer in the way of digital perks - after all, Amazon Prime not only nets its users free two-day shipping, but also access to instant streaming videos and Kindle e-book lending perks. Fortunately, Google has plenty of virtual goodies of its own to offer in the Play store.
It may dominate in areas like search and mobile, but Google remains an underdog in e-commerce, where giants like Amazon and Ebay run the show. And after the Google Wallet buzz fizzled out - you know, since no one could actually use Google Wallet - its efforts in online shopping and payments have been pretty quiet.
It might not be enough to make the new service a success, but same-day shipping would at least speed up the process for anyone out there still waiting to for their Nexus 4 to show up in the mail.
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