Same-dayDelivery
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Target's same-day delivery service will soon cover all 'major' products
Target's same-day delivery service, Shipt, is about to be much more useful if you'd prefer to shop from home. The company told TechCrunch that it's planning same-day shipping for "all major product categories" in 2019, not just certain groceries and a handful of other product categories. Shipt wouldn't say how many products would be covered or narrow down the time frame, but this suggests you could order clothes and get them in time for a night out.
Target acquisition brings same-day delivery to stores in early 2018
If it wasn't already obvious that Target is nervous about Amazon, it is now. Target has acquired another same-day delivery startup, Shipt, for a cool $550 million. The deal should speed up Target's plans to offer same-day delivery in its stores. It's expecting to have the feature available in half its stores by early 2018, and in the "majority" of stores in time for 2018 holiday shopping. Your options will largely be limited to groceries, electronics, "essentials" and home products, but Target plans to offer products from all its major categories by the end of 2019.
Google's home delivery service now covers most of the US
Google's same-day delivery service, Express has been growing quickly (it just spread throughout New England), but it's now poised to be almost ubiquitous in the US. The internet giant has expanded its I-want-it-now shopping option to 12 more states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Washington. That puts Google Express within reach of 70 million more people, or about 90 percent of Americans. The whole continental US should be covered by the end of 2016, Google adds.
eBay is shutting down its on-demand delivery service
It was only a matter of time before eBay Now would be put out to pasture once and for all. But that's official as of today, eBay revealed in a statement about how it plans to simplify shopping for users. The company introduced its same-day, on-demand delivery service in 2012, but struggled to capture valuable attention from consumers -- which led eBay to retire the eBay Now apps and slow down the product's expansion strategy. Additionally, eBay also revealed it will be killing a few other applications over the coming weeks, with those being Fashion, Motors and Valet. It's been a busy month for eBay in terms of restructuring; earlier this month it finally let go of PayPal, a process that began back in 2014.
Google Express shopping service grows: new cities, partners and Prime-style subscriptions
Google started experimenting with same-day deliveries early last year, but now it's getting serious. Google Express (shortened from Google Shopping Express) is expanding its service areas from just the Bay Area, parts of NYC and Los Angeles -- now it's shipping goods from local merchants to their customers in Chicago, Washington D.C. and Boston. There's a slew of new retailers on board including Barnes & Noble, PetSmart and Sports Authority, and in the Bay Area it's added alcohol and fresh foods to the delivery menu. One small catch? Starting today, Google will charge for those deliveries, which used to be free. Nonmembers can pay $5 per order, or join the service (sort of like Amazon Prime) for $95 a year, or $10 per month.
Amazon's same-day delivery expands in six cities
If you're the sort who just can't wait to get household goods but cringe at having to brave the lines at the local store, today might be your lucky day. Amazon has officially expanded its same-day delivery options in six cities that include Baltimore, Dallas, Indianapolis, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. You can now order from a catalog of a million common items (such as movies, games and supplies) and expect to get the shipment within hours. You can pull the trigger as late as 12:15PM in most places, and up to 1PM in Baltimore and Washington. Just be prepared to pay for those urgent arrivals. As before, same-day shipping costs $10 (plus 99 cents for every extra item) if you're an ordinary customer, and $6 for all items if you're a Prime subscriber.
eBay's same-day delivery service stalls out
When we checked in on eBay Now last fall, its leaders were brimming with optimism, announcing plans to bring the same-day delivery option to 25 more cities by the end of 2014. Skip forward to today, however, and it's apparently a different story. VentureBeat sources claim that the service is in serious trouble; in addition to losing executives and getting rid of first-party drivers, eBay Now is reportedly "blowing a ton of resources" and may be near shutting down. While the speedy courier option has done well during busy holiday shopping seasons, it reportedly doesn't have enough day-to-day business to stay afloat.
eBay debuts desktop version of eBay Now, service coming to more cities this summer
eBay's same-day delivery service has been highly focused on mobile since its very early days, but now the internet giant is looking to change that. Starting today, eBay Now will be available on the desktop, giving shoppers an alternative to using the site on their iOS or Android device. Naturally, this means users can still make the same purchases and have them delivered in a speedy fashion, only they'll be able to do so on a larger canvas that's optimized to display things like big imagery, reviews and which stores are most popular. In addition, the company's VP of Mobile and Local, Dan Glasgow, told us the service is, as of now, expanding its NYC coverage to Brooklyn and Queens, as well as some more places around the Bay Area. eBay also let us know Now's getting ready to launch in Chicago and Dallas "later this summer," adding that new features are set to debut at around the same time, including one which allows for scheduled deliveries. Still hoping it comes to your city? It may very well happen soon -- eBay says it's excited to keep growing and continue expanding the service.%Gallery-194299%
NYT: Google actively trialing same-day delivery from retail for the chronically impatient
Rumors have floated for the better part of a year that Google has been prepping a same-day delivery service that would pressure eBay and make even Amazon Prime seem pokey. If we're to believe a pair of New York Times contacts, it's much closer to reality. Google staffers and their close connections are supposedly in the midst of testing the extra-fast shipping option in San Francisco with at "at least one" major clothing chain participating alongside local shops. Most details are still missing, including the price premium for waiting mere hours as well as the implied mobile option; Google certainly isn't talking on the record. We're almost hoping that the story is bogus, as the last thing we need is one less reason to step outside.
eBay unveils redesign, deals site and launches same-day delivery
After eBay finally straightened out its logo and became ebay (it'll always be camel-cased in our hearts) it seemed only logical that the site itself would get a long overdue facelift too. At a press event today in NYC the tenacious dot-com holdover unveiled the most dramatic redesign of its long and storied existence. The look has been compared, repeatedly in the media, to Pinterest with its endless, uneven grid of product boxes and curated feed of auctions. The design is cleaner, with less text and better suited to scale for mobile and the upcoming onslaught of touchscreens. You can also like auctions on Facebook, which it hopes will drive more traffic to the site. The company quietly launched eBay Lifestyle Deals as well, a local coupon service in the vein of Groupon and Google Offers. Right now the deals are only available in a few major cities, including Washington DC, San Francisco and LA. SF is also the beneficiary of eBay Now, the same-day delivery service that entered beta testing in early August. There isn't an immediate expansion to accompany the end of the trial, but more cities should be added soon. If you're not seeing the new design yet, look for the "Feeds" option on the home page to switch over now.
