EBay is in the middle of its Analyst Day, and just a little while ago it announced plans for some significant expansions for eBay Now, its same-day delivery service, with Chicago and Dallas deliveries coming this summer, and integration of the service into its “core experience” as it gears up for competition with Amazon and now Google.
The comments come on the same-day that Google officially confirmed its move into the same-day delivery business with the launch of Google Shopping Express.
It looks like there may be some competitive clashes ahead between the search giant and eBay:
Google is debuting its service with Target, Walgreens, Staples, American Eagle, Toys“R”Us/Babies“R”Us, Office Depot, San Francisco’s Blue Bottle Coffee, Raley’s Nob Hill Foods, and Palo Alto Toy & Sport, and is gunning for more. EBay, meanwhile, offers same-day delivery also to Target, Walgreens and Toys “R” Us, as well as Best Buy and Macy’s.
It’s come to be seen as essential for pure-play online companies to also bridge further into what is happening offline. That’ s been part of the motivation behind the creation and investment in PayPal Here for mobile-phone based commerce at point of sale, and it’s what is driving eBay Now.
Dane Glasgow, vice president, mobile & local at eBay, noted that about 90% of shopping is still done in physical stores. Within that context delivery plays make a lot of sense: he noted that about 75% of of commerce actually happens 15 miles from home. “Our ambition [is to] bridge the gap between online and offline through retail thru great tech, platforms & experiences,” he said.
First launched in beta in San Francisco in August 2012, eBay Now, which is available as an app, then extended to New York in November and will be coming to Chicago and Dallas this summer.