drag2share: Google Is Getting Ready To Take On Amazon...In Shipping? (GOOG, AMZN)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-is-getting-ready-to-take-on-amazon-in-shipping-2011-12

Google is talking to major retailers like Macy's, the Gap, and OfficeMax to offer customers one-day shipping when they buy products after finding them through Google searches.

It sounds a lot like Amazon Prime, Amazon's $79-per-year service that offers fast shipping and other benefits.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the service, and confirmed that Macy's had been approached by Google to participate.

The next-day shipping will apparently be combined with Google Product Search, which today lets users find products and compare them across different e-commerce sites to get the lowest price. When people buy a product from one of the sites after finding it on Google Product Search, they'll get an offer for one day shipping for a low fee, the Journal says.

Google won't be running an e-commerce site or stocking products in warehouses like Amazon does, but will instead create a system that figures out which retail partner's stores are nearest to a customer and have the product in stock. Then it would team up with UPS and local couriers for delivery.

Still, e-commerce fulfillment is a pretty big step removed from Google's core mission of organizing the world's information. Lack of focus has been a problem for the company, and CEO Larry Page has killed a lot of non-core products this year.

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See Also:

• Adobe Has Snapped Up Two Ad Tech Companies This Month -- Here's Why
• Amazon Launches Its Spanish Kindle Store
• Sheryl Sandberg: Facebook's Strategy Couldn't Be Any More Different Than Google's

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