Google expands home delivery shopping Google Express

Google yesterday announced an expansion of its home delivery shopping service Google Express, which will now be available across a large part of the East Coast. With the service users would be able to order consumer products like electronics, clothing, health and beauty items, home décor and even dry good groceries, from either the web or a dedicated mobile app.

With the expansion Google Express would be able to reach over a dozen eastern states, or roughly 70 million more people, Google said.

The service which started yesterday has made Google Express available across: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Shoppers in those regions would be able to order from a variety of retailers, including Costco, Kohl's, L'Occitane, PetSmart, Stop & Shop / Giant Food (depending on city) Sur La Table, Ulta Beauty, Payless, Adorama, Road Runner, Vitamin Shoppe, Whole Foods, TRU/BRU and Paragon.

Metro area shoppers would be able to place orders for same-day delivery, while in more suburban and rural regions, the turnaround time would be next-day or two-day delivery.

The move positions Google in direct competition with Amazon, whose Prime Now service offered same-day delivery in major cities across the US, while its Prime membership programme offered two-day delivery on millions of items for anyone, whether an urban dweller or not.

Shoppers can now use Google Express to order goods online through the desktop site or directly on the smartphone app. It offered a convenience similar to Prime Now, Amazon's own speedy-delivery service.

The major difference was items on Google Express were sourced from a wider variety of stores from Google's retail partners, including Staples, Costco, Kohl's, Petsmart, Whole Foods Market and more.

After they place an order, customers can specify a delivery window -- either next-day, two-day, or even same-day service to certain metropolitan areas.