If you're looking for another excuse to not leave the house today, Google's got you covered. Or they will soon because Google will begin delivering fresh food and groceries in two U.S. cities later this year, Bloomberg reports. Google Express, which has been delivering merchandise such as dry foods for a while, will partner with Whole Foods Market and Costco to add fruit and vegetables, and more, to their delivery selection. The trial begins in San Francisco and another city that wasn't named in the interview.
With this move, Google Express steps into direct competition with other online food deliverers such as Amazon Fresh and Instacart. And, looking at the numbers in the Bloomberg report, it makes sense that they're doing this. Online groceries have become a $10.9 billion industry in the U.S., and it's expected to grow 9.6 percent each year through 2019.
Brian Elliott, general manager of Google Express, told Bloomberg that it's in Google's interest to be able to deliver the "whole store" to customers.
Google has offered next-day deliveries on non-fresh items to a few cities for a while, but they will be expanding that to include Midwestern cities such as Indiana, Wisconsin and Ohio.
Delivering fresh foods makes sense for Google because it avoids costly warehouses and gives customers more options, which might induce people to place larger orders. On the consumer side, the grocery market getting more competitive hopefully signals that it will become more affordable. So that someday soon, instead of dragging ourselves to the grocery store, we can just order our groceries online without exorbitant fees.