The people who brought you a now iconic internet search engine is offering people in the Youngstown area a service that lets people shop online at stores like Costco, Ranch 99, Walgreens, and Whole Foods Market from their mobile phones or laptops. Memberships may be canceled at any time according to Google. Amazon rolled out its “Prime Now” same-day delivery service in the Twin Cities a year ago and recently expanded it to include restaurant and liquor delivery.
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Nonmembers, or pay-as-you-go customers, pay a minimum $4.99 delivery charge for each store from which they order.
Google Express is offering a free 3-month trial offer that expires January 31, 2017.
Both services want to beat each other to the punch on offering delivery sooner than two days. It’s being extended to include portions of Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado, South Dakota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan, Ohio and Arkansas.
Google Express bears a close resemblance to Amazon Prime Now, which delivers a wide range of retail merchandise to members in the Twin Cities and elsewhere.
The service doesn’t deliver frozen foods or alcoholic beverages.
The service has been available in some cities in eastern Iowa for about a year, Elliott said.
Google Express will include Sioux Falls and the surrounding area as well as much of the state.
Google Express also is steering clear of restaurant deliveries, which are the emphasis of services like Bite Squad, DoorDash and Postmates that pick up orders at local eateries and deliver them to homes and offices.
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Ordering options via Instacart can also include non-food items such as aspirin, tennis balls, shot glasses and condoms.
