4 ms·

I've used it a couple of times but it still has some flaws. For instance, you can only buy things that are listed on the website. I decided to give it a shot to

I've used it a couple of times but it still has some flaws. For instance, you can only buy things that are listed on the website. I decided to give it a shot to get a new PS3 game delivered. The item would be located no more than 3 feet away from other items listed, but Google would not pick it up for you. In another case, I just wanted a new filtered water pitcher. It ended up taking three days to get something delivered because the item I had selected would be out of stock, and there was no way to select an alternative. Getting any product on day one would have outweighed any marginal price differences between selections. Compare this to Instacart which gives a lot of freedom in what the shoppers pick up for you. That being said, when the service did work, it was a good experience.

matchu 13y ago
Stores tend to keep the new PS3 games locked up these days, so the shopper would have to find an employee to get the item, and then probably ring it up as a separate purchase in the entertainment section in addition to the final checkout—and then might get extra guff for the already-purchased game and have to show the receipt. I'm not sure what their general policy is, but, for a delivery service with a decent emphasis on speed, it makes sense to me to exclude items that could significantly slow down the shopper with extra employee interaction, especially since they'd probably only have one video game order per trip, tops.
- TheMakeA 13y ago
  You make very good points but I got the impression that Shopping Express may work a little differently. It seems like Google might actually call the store and have the store employees prepare the order, or at least confirm that some items are in stock. One clue was an extremely quick turn around time for out of stock items: my order would be canceled less than an hour after being placed and hours before the intended delivery time for being out of stock. Of course, this doesn't rule out the possibility that the shopper happened to be at my Target at the time and was just buying every item for the day. That being said, you do bring up good points and that may well be the reason.

matchu 13y ago

Stores tend to keep the new PS3 games locked up these days, so the shopper would have to find an employee to get the item, and then probably ring it up as a separate purchase in the entertainment section in addition to the final checkout—and then might get extra guff for the already-purchased game and have to show the receipt. I'm not sure what their general policy is, but, for a delivery service with a decent emphasis on speed, it makes sense to me to exclude items that could significantly slow down the shopper with extra employee interaction, especially since they'd probably only have one video game order per trip, tops.

TheMakeA 13y ago
You make very good points but I got the impression that Shopping Express may work a little differently. It seems like Google might actually call the store and have the store employees prepare the order, or at least confirm that some items are in stock. One clue was an extremely quick turn around time for out of stock items: my order would be canceled less than an hour after being placed and hours before the intended delivery time for being out of stock. Of course, this doesn't rule out the possibility that the shopper happened to be at my Target at the time and was just buying every item for the day. That being said, you do bring up good points and that may well be the reason.