Google Launches Fresh-Grocery Deliveries • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Launches Fresh-Grocery Deliveries

#151

Post by dragonwriter » Thu, Feb 18, 2016, 7:38 PM UTC

mc32 wrote: post #38

Outdoorsman wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wal Mart became a giant by operating on low margins...scaling, then using scale for purchasing leverage... I wouldn't assume that Google is paying the same price that ordinary customers are in the retail settings Google order fillers pick from.. Likely rates were negotiated before launch...

Yeah but groceries are a very thin margin business half percent to two percent profits. There isn't a lot of room for negotiating great prices.

> Yeah but groceries are a very thin margin business half percent to two percent profits.

Including groceries makes the existing, more general Google Express shopping service more valuable, and negates an advantage that Amazon's competing service, which already has grocery delivery, has over Google's service.

Analyzing the grocery delivery bit as if it were a standalone business is an error.

Re: Google Launches Fresh-Grocery Deliveries

#152

Post by dragonwriter » Thu, Feb 18, 2016, 7:58 PM UTC

nickpsecurity wrote: post #130

Outdoorsman wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, maybe they're diversifying?...and maybe they're betting on being able to provide a more reliable service...? They certainly have a bit of capital to burn...

Companies in the grocery market have already gone bankrupt because they couldn't be competitive at billions in sales. I'd have either partnered with a strong company to invest in new stores with a profit cut plus discounted Google tech to make them competitive. Or straight up bought companies that produce things like salt, sugar, or key brands that fuel grocery sales. That's what the elites, esp Koch Brothers, are do…

> Companies in the grocery market have already gone bankrupt because they couldn't be competitive at billions in sales.

Google isn't entering the grocery market, its expanding its existing presence in the delivery market partnering with existing stores that are in the grocery market (some of which are already retail partners for Google Express, which has been around for a while for dry goods, and is just expanding to include fresh groceries.)

Re: Google Launches Fresh-Grocery Deliveries

#153

Post by Symbiote » Thu, Feb 18, 2016, 8:12 PM UTC

danr4 wrote: post #87

Hey here's one of my ideas thrown to HN crowd: Subscription for perishables i.e bread, meat, eggs, fruits and veggies - You shouldn't actually buy things you buy every week, you should just get them shipped!

This is an extremely old idea, and used to be normal for things like bread, milk and eggs in much of Europe, America etc.

There are some extracts from historical texts here [1], with accounts of delivered milk in the 1790s.

You can still get milk and some dairy products delivered in a few places in the UK. My parents had milk delivered until about 2005.

More recently, a "veg box" is a box of vegetables: https://www.abelandcole.co.uk/

[1] http://susannaives.com/wordpress/2012/03/buying-bread-and-mi...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkman

Re: Google Launches Fresh-Grocery Deliveries

#154

Post by nickpsecurity » Thu, Feb 18, 2016, 8:20 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #152

nickpsecurity wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Companies in the grocery market have already gone bankrupt because they couldn't be competitive at billions in sales. I'd have either partnered with a strong company to invest in new stores with a profit cut plus discounted Google tech to make them competitive. Or straight up bought companies that produce things like salt, sugar, or key brands that fuel grocery sales. That's what the elites, esp Koch Brothers, are do…

> Companies in the grocery market have already gone bankrupt because they couldn't be competitive at billions in sales. Google isn't entering the grocery market, its expanding its existing presence in the delivery market partnering with existing stores that are in the grocery market (some of which are already retail partners for Google Express, which has been around for a while for dry goods, and is just expanding to…

That's a good distinction to make.

Re: Google Launches Fresh-Grocery Deliveries

#155

Post by dragonwriter » Thu, Feb 18, 2016, 8:23 PM UTC

JPKab wrote: post #146

skyyler wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So Google should consult you before they take on a new product, just to make sure you're ok with it?

Of course not. I won't have a hard time moving my stuff, although I would have preferred to stay on Google. I was a bit pissed off when I wrote the original comment due to this unexpected twist. Obviously not their fault, but it sucks that the two most viable cloud providers are now both in the fucking retail world. Honestly, I love Google, and just wish they would TRY to focus a bit before branching out into anythin…

> I was a bit pissed off when I wrote the original comment due to this unexpected twist. Obviously not their fault, but it sucks that the two most viable cloud providers are now both in the fucking retail world.

Google isn't really in the retail world (well, except for Google Store which sells a limited array of Google-branded devices, Chromebooks, etc.) -- Google Express (the service expanding into fresh grocery delivery here) is a delivery service that partners with retailers like Target, Whole Foods, Raleys/BelAir, Costco, etc., and it has been doing so since 2013 for dry goods.

Re: Google Launches Fresh-Grocery Deliveries

#156

Post by dragonwriter » Thu, Feb 18, 2016, 9:12 PM UTC

skewart wrote: post #34

nickpsecurity wrote: post #27

Google usually operates in high-margin industries. This is the opposite. I've had the "privilege" of working in this one. You're talking all kinds of players working against each other for perceived self-gain with individual companies constantly pushing costs down to the point their staff can barely break even. And Google intends to compete with that using something with higher cost? Pretty crazy. I was unsurprised t…

I suspect there's another reason they're doing this, and they don't actually think this will be a profitable business opportunity. Delivering groceries in 2016 is probably a strategic move in support of a larger effort that will pay off in 2019. Perhaps it's about gathering richer data on consumer preferences and behavior. Or maybe it will help them develop autonomous vehicles in some way (having already been operati…

> Or maybe it will help them develop autonomous vehicles in some way (having already been operating a delivery service for a while might be helpful when they start rolling out new tech).

They've been operating a delivery service since 2013; this is an increase in the scope of kinds of products it includes (which brings it better in line with its Amazon competition.)

Re: Google Launches Fresh-Grocery Deliveries

#157

Post by konspence » Fri, Feb 19, 2016, 12:19 AM UTC

Outdoorsman wrote: post #22

joelrunyon wrote: post #4

What's Google's USP here? This service sounds like everything Google that Google goes at great lengths to avoid (physical products, customer service, etc).

From the article they're simply entering the "delivery" market...picking up items from retail stores and transporting them to willing buyers...obviously a markup is implied...the cost of convenience... There's no holding of inventory...thus no storage-related overhead... When I was in college one of the jobs I had was at a combination "feed" mill/agri-center...the boss was 85 years old and made a speech each year whe…

s/..././g

Re: Google Launches Fresh-Grocery Deliveries

#158

Post by anarchitect » Fri, Feb 19, 2016, 7:52 AM UTC

How does this "organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful"?

I'll be disappointed if there isn't some ulterior motive at play. Some in this thread have pointed out they stand the collect more customer information or they may potentially have a use-case for drones.

Re: Google Launches Fresh-Grocery Deliveries

#159

Post by yoz-y » Fri, Feb 19, 2016, 10:15 AM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #150

yoz-y wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This should not be a Google product, they have Google Ventures to support somebody else to do it. Google has a trillion of rotting product they keep pushing out and then killing. Problem with any of these Google side projects is that they come in with a huge cash reserve so they are not playing on a level field with other companies that would like to do something similar. Then, when they leave, it leaves us with a ba…

> This should not be a Google product This is an added feature for Google Express, which is an established Google offering. Google Express was an outgrowth of Google Shopping (originally, it was "Google Shopping Express"), which was an established Google offering. Google Shopping was an outgrowth of Google Search, which is the most core Google offering there is. Why, again, should this not be a Google product? > Prob…

VC backed companies usually have one offering and they have a huge motivation to succeed. Google's reaction to a failed project is a simple "meh". I would compare this more to a government subsidised production that would obliterate competition. And no competition = bad thing. This is why we have anti-trust laws.

Re: Google Launches Fresh-Grocery Deliveries

#160

Post by jon-wood » Sat, Feb 20, 2016, 5:01 PM UTC

toomanybeersies wrote: post #80

jon-wood wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At Hubbub we've never seen that happen. We're working with independent shops who know they're part of a marketplace where they're competing against other grocers, and if they try to palm off their rotting stock on a customer we'll refund it at their expense, and the customer likely won't buy from them again.

The quality of produce is not a binary thing though. When you go to the supermarket, there's the rotting produce, there's the premium produce, but then there's also the mediocre produce, which probably takes up 80% of the stock of produce. Now, someone who cares about the quality of their bananas, or specifically wants bananas of a certain ripeness (maybe they want overripe bananas for a cake, or slightly unripe bana…

At least in our case customers can request the bananas how they want, and the pickers will get exactly what they want. We've had people request and get "an avocado that will be ripe on Wednesday".