Shopping Express - wise or otherwise?

[Chuckanut]

Google's Shopping Express service allows one to order merchandise from a participating merchant and get it delivered the same day. The wait is supposed to be about 3-4 hours.

Currently, the first 6 months is free and then the yearly cost is about $50.

Would you use such a service if it was available in your area? Do you know of people who might find it useful? How should local retailers react to this?

 

[RonBoyd]

My Zip Code gets a "We don't deliver to your area" so this is moot for me. In any event, $50 seems a bit much to eliminate trips to local retailers. Other than groceries, I spend so little locally that I would not find a break-even in ten years. And even then, I tried Walmart's grocery deliver (which was as good as they promised) but decided I got "cabin fever" being confined to home and stopped having groceries delivered. The only other local purchases, I can think of, would be the rare panic trips to Home Depot. I don't see this service being very valuable in that situation.

On the other hand, the $100 annual Amazon Prime subscription has easily paid for itself (and I don't watch videos).

 

[FIREd]

This service is available in my area and a lot of people in my building use it - mostly young and well-off professionals who would rather not waste time on something as trivial as shopping. I don't use it.

 

[athena53]

Nope. I can wait. I'm also wary of programs that are designed to motivate you buying only from them. ("Well, I have a membership with Amazon Prime or Google Shopping Express, so I'll use them and not look around.")

 

[Walt34]

I also get the "No delivery to your area". No tears here though, like RonBoyd I probably wouldn't use it enough anyway. We just don't do that much local shopping other than groceries.

 

[W2R]

Sounds very nice! They don't deliver to my area, either. Not yet, but maybe someday.

It would be especially nice for the elderly, who may find it difficult to get to stores to buy things.

 

[FUEGO]

I might if it could save me money overall, like if I could get access to sale prices at different grocery stores. I won't drive to a grocery store more than a mile or two away unless I'm saving $5-$10 versus closer options.

For example, it would be nice to search for "boneless chicken breasts" and be able to order from the store that is the cheapest (even if it's 5+ miles from my house). I don't know if the loss leaders would be available to Google Express shoppers, but if they were, it would make grocery shopping cheaper for me.

I would also appreciate the convenience of having items delivered to me quickly and for free. Instead of walking the seven minutes down the street to the store for a couple of items, I could spend hopefully less than seven minutes clicking and shopping for whatever I need. Getting a couple of items from home depot/lowes would be similarly enticing since I can't seem to spend less than 30 minutes including driving time when I just need 1 item from the hardware store.

 

[Katsmeow]

Mixed feelings. For my 90 year old mother, (if she had internet access which she doesn't), that would be great.

I could certainly see using it for certain things if it was available in my area and the cost wasn't more than it would cost me to drive to the store myself.

On the one hand, the less I have to leave the house to go shopping, the less money I have to spend on driving and wear and tear on my vehicle and the less time wasted.

But, on the other hand, I've found that days that I stay at home I burn fewer calories (per my Fitbit) so that is a negative.

 

[FIREd]

But, on the other hand, I've found that days that I stay at home I burn fewer calories (per my Fitbit) so that is a negative.

+1.

Also, I already get most of my non-perishables from Amazon, delivered to my door. So I shop locally mostly for perishables. And I like to carefully choose those items myself.

One could live pretty well without ever living our building though. We even have dental trucks and a vet on wheels coming through regularly. And a concierge doctor will make house calls.

 

[jerome len]

Nope, I wouldn't use it if I had to pay $50 bucks. But, then, again, years ago I said I would never pay to join Costco but I did because I save more than the cost of membership. On the other hand I still won't join Barnes and Noble book club ($25 I think) because I can buy books as cheap at Costco. So the answer is value.....time and money. Today, I don't see it, someday, who knows!

 

[Live And Learn]

I have eye problems and may have to give up driving some day. In that case this would be an excellent service. Other than that I don't think I'd use it. I'm what you would call a "homebody" but even that has its limits !

 

[Walt34]

I'm what you would call a "homebody" but even that has its limits !

Yes, sometimes one has to get out of the house just to get out of the house.

But I can definitely see the need for it with a physical issue - I once spent a week in bed after some surgery - and it would have been nice to have then. And there may well come the day when neither one of us can drive.

 

[RonBoyd]

And there may well come the day when neither one of us can drive.

Then I will decide then what to do. I heard a good line this week: "I wasted too much of my life thinking about things that never happened." This is one of those things that I could easily look back on in that light.

 

[Walt34]

"I wasted too much of my life thinking about things that never happened." This is one of those things that I could easily look back on in that light.

Oh, agreed, not to spend lots of time worrying about it. But it is also good to recognize that bad things do happen and to have, if not a concrete action plan, at least a hazy pre-thought out idea of which direction to go.

 

[RonBoyd]

... and to have, if not a concrete action plan, at least a hazy pre-thought out idea of which direction to go.

I cannot disagree. However, I can not find any evidence to support that [-]philosophy[/-] theory. (And, believe me, I have search and searched.)

 

[rodi]

My mom used a web service for groceries when she was doing chemo. She had concerns about the quality of the fruit/produce, but she said they actually picked better quality stuff than she did when she shopped in person. (I guess they were worried about complaints.)

I can totally see the utility of these services for people with health issues, with mobility issues, or just super busy juggling work, kids, life.

Now that I'm retired... I don't see the utility for me... at this point.

 

[Chuckanut]

One of the things I like about this service is that it would include a variety of retailers thus adding to our consumer choice. I hope it would also include some smaller retailers and not just the nationwide giants. We'll see.