I was thinking of writing about Amazon Prime Air ad that i recently saw, but this has to go first.
'R' declared excitedly about the next big thing in Bay Area - 'Google Shopping Express for Costco'. Order online and get a free delivery the same day minus 10$ off the first purchase. I was thrilled too... sounds really nice, and it's "Google". I should definitely check this out.
The experience was pretty 'meh'. Just like any other "drab"online shopping portal with category and sub-categories, stoic photos of items and pages and pages of search results! Thankfully, i have to give a brownie point to Google shopping for some sub-categories that only had like 5 pics. Thank-you for sparing me the horror. The inventory was extremely limited compared to what i would find in-store. Could not order fresh vegetables, fruits, diary products or frozen items online. Another boring thing was that i had to have my shopping list ready and make specific searches. Don't entertain any notions of just 'looking around' online. Afraid that i will forget the good old days of walking into a store to buy one item and pushing out a 'loaded' shopping cart with items that i had no clue, i wanted before i walked in!
Another major drawback was that the 'Google Shopping Express' wouldn't let me just pay and finish when i proceeded to checkout. I have to set up my Google Wallet right now. That was it, i gave up there. I did not feel like setting that up right away 'on-demand'. But no, they won't let me pay for this now and set up the wallet later.
Can someone please make online shopping as enjoyable as it is inside a brick and mortar store? No, i don't really care about the social or human connection, nor the touchy feely thing. No, it's not even about the instant gratification. It is about the sensory experience and a straight and easy process. I felt like a lab-rat here.
Of course, there are folks like 'R' for whom this works. Sorry, please don't count me in for now. I'll be back when it's less of a geeky experience. I can't wait for that day when it's better than what it is now. Come on, i didn't say that i don't love to shop online. All i said was, i want it to be better. And no, i am not 'picky'. I just 'know' that it can be better than this. Only hope all the great product managers work that out sooner!
And even though i loathe driving to the store, most days, i still like the good old fashioned shopping. For now.
Just thinking, if i order for items from different stores on Google Shopping Express, will i have 3 different people knocking on my door? I would really prefer to answer just one delivery-call, but you never know... what kind of a system has been drawn in place? It will be totally environmentally friendly if there are 3 guys driving around to deliver 4 items ordered online. Anyone game enough to find that out?
'R', are you up for the challenge?
'R' declared excitedly about the next big thing in Bay Area - 'Google Shopping Express for Costco'. Order online and get a free delivery the same day minus 10$ off the first purchase. I was thrilled too... sounds really nice, and it's "Google". I should definitely check this out.
The experience was pretty 'meh'. Just like any other "drab"online shopping portal with category and sub-categories, stoic photos of items and pages and pages of search results! Thankfully, i have to give a brownie point to Google shopping for some sub-categories that only had like 5 pics. Thank-you for sparing me the horror. The inventory was extremely limited compared to what i would find in-store. Could not order fresh vegetables, fruits, diary products or frozen items online. Another boring thing was that i had to have my shopping list ready and make specific searches. Don't entertain any notions of just 'looking around' online. Afraid that i will forget the good old days of walking into a store to buy one item and pushing out a 'loaded' shopping cart with items that i had no clue, i wanted before i walked in!
Another major drawback was that the 'Google Shopping Express' wouldn't let me just pay and finish when i proceeded to checkout. I have to set up my Google Wallet right now. That was it, i gave up there. I did not feel like setting that up right away 'on-demand'. But no, they won't let me pay for this now and set up the wallet later.
Can someone please make online shopping as enjoyable as it is inside a brick and mortar store? No, i don't really care about the social or human connection, nor the touchy feely thing. No, it's not even about the instant gratification. It is about the sensory experience and a straight and easy process. I felt like a lab-rat here.
Of course, there are folks like 'R' for whom this works. Sorry, please don't count me in for now. I'll be back when it's less of a geeky experience. I can't wait for that day when it's better than what it is now. Come on, i didn't say that i don't love to shop online. All i said was, i want it to be better. And no, i am not 'picky'. I just 'know' that it can be better than this. Only hope all the great product managers work that out sooner!
And even though i loathe driving to the store, most days, i still like the good old fashioned shopping. For now.
Just thinking, if i order for items from different stores on Google Shopping Express, will i have 3 different people knocking on my door? I would really prefer to answer just one delivery-call, but you never know... what kind of a system has been drawn in place? It will be totally environmentally friendly if there are 3 guys driving around to deliver 4 items ordered online. Anyone game enough to find that out?
'R', are you up for the challenge?
2 comments:
haha... I can only imagine what you would write if I get you to use Google+ !!
The shopping experience is still beta.. but the concept is really good. That's what I like about ebay now also. I was busy to go to a shop so ordered online and it was at my desk in 1 hour. Super cool.
About your question of whether there will be 3 deliveries if you purchase from 3 stores, no.. only 1. With just one person to deliver, companies like ebay and google will be incurring loss unless they have lot of people buying so that the same person can drop off to multiple places in one trip. It is very environment friendly too. Will be great for less mobile (say handicapped or elderly) people or celebrities who don't want to go out or for people who are scared ..etc.
oh please don't get me started on google+. thanks to the time i spent on it, remember i showed you a few tricks that you had no clue of? though u use it more extensively than me? :P
that was a longer rant that you are lucky not to hear of.
i really want to try the ordering from different stores thingy, just to see wht google express has in place. Because i heard of something to the tunes where it was massively bungled up.
the concept is all grand, but you know i don't believe in releasing half baked products.
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