CNETAnalysis: Amazon Prime subscribers love free two-day shipping, but Google may be planning to one-up the e-tailer with a less expensive service offering same-day delivery from brick-and-mortar retailers. TechCrunch reported Tuesday that Google may be quietly preparing to launch a new e-commerce initiative known as Google Shopping Express. According to sources, the same-day delivery service would undercut Amazon’s popular $79 per year Prime offering, which gives subscribers free two-day shipping on almost everything the e-tailer sells. Reportedly led by Google e-commerce product manager Tom Fallows, Shopping Express is being positioned as $10 to $15 less expensive than Amazon Prime, with same-day delivery from select retailers. No more waiting Priced at $64 or $69 per year, Google Shopping Express would deliver products the same day they are ordered from brick-and-mortar retailers such as Target, Walmart, Walgreens and Safeway. Amazon has also been testing new ways to deliver goods purchased online, an idea Google appears to want a piece of as well, judging from its recent acquisition of BufferBox. Currently available only in Canada, BufferBox offers consumers a central, convenient place to pick up packages at any time of day, although it’s unclear how Google might implement the service into Shopping Express, if at all. Shopping Express could be a big boost for Google Wallet and Google Shopping , Mountain View’s existing e-commerce offerings which have largely floundered, despite being tied into the company’s core search engine service.
