Google is expanding its same-day delivery service to fresh groceries, competing with the likes of Amazon and Instacart.
The Alphabet-owned firm said it would begin delivering produce, meat, eggs and other perishable goods on Wednesday in parts of San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The service is part of Google Express, which partners with retailers in some US cities to deliver goods to consumers within hours of an order.
“Whether you need to restock your pantry, get some ingredients for tonight’s dinner, or just need some help carrying the heavier stuff — all you have to do is place your order, and we’ll take care of the rest,” the company wrote in a blog post.
While Amazon and Fresh Direct maintain expensive refrigerated warehouses near cities, Google says it will make deliveries directly from its existing retail partners.
That will avoid the risks of owning its own inventory, like food spoilage.
In San Francisco, Google will deliver from Costco Wholesale , and Smart & Final.
In Los Angeles, it will start deliveries from Costco, Smart & Final and upscale grocer Vincente Foods.
Google said it is making some changes to its current delivery operation to accommodate fresh groceries, such as reducing customers’ delivery window to two hours from four.
Google will reduce customers’ delivery windows from four to two hours and will raise the minimum size for an order that includes fresh groceries to $35, up from $15.
Fresh-food deliveries will cost $3 an order, non-Express members will pay $5 an order. Google Express annual membership costs $95.
Google said Express has expanded in recent months, including to most of the Midwest and all of California. The company also said that eliminating warehouses has expedited the service and helped make fresh-food delivery possible.
The number of fundings for grocery-delivery services indicate just how competitive the market is at this time.
“One-third of the companies in the food-delivery industry received their first round of funding in just the last year,” according to CB Insights.
“Traditional VCs, celebrity chefs and high-profile angel investors have all invested in these startups focused on making at-home dining as convenient as possible. Successes like Blue Apron ($2 billion valuation), DoorDash ($600 million), Postmates ($400 million) and Munchery ($300 million) have quickly reached big valuations, encouraging even more new competitors.”
