Google tried to downplay the news of Google Express’s demise by including it as just another part to the larger Google Shopping revamp. Gizmodo had previously reported on how Target reshaped its relationship with Google Express after launch.) (Target says it continues to invest in the platform. Not too much later, Target and Walmart were pulling out or pulling back from Google Express, it was being reported. Its retail partners, meanwhile, were building out their own fulfillment businesses for their customers’ online orders - like Walmart Grocery’s curbside pickup and delivery, for example, or Target’s Shipt, Drive Up, and Restock. Google represented a safer third-party platform for their experiments with voice commands and personalized shopping.īut even several years after launch, Google Express had failed to offer any real threat to Amazon.

As direct competitors with Amazon, these retailers didn’t want to offer third-party skills for Echo users or others on Amazon’s Alexa platform. In the latter case, Google Express partnered with retailers like Walmart and Target for deep integrations for voice-enabled shopping. And you could shop through a dedicated online storefront on the web, a Google Express mobile app, or even Google Assistant. At Google Express, you could find products from thousands of retailers - including big names like Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Best Buy, and others. Because Google is not a retailer itself, it did what it knows best - it organized information. Google Express was Google’s high-profile attempt to compete with Amazon for online shopping clicks and ad dollars buy creating a virtual mall on the web filled with top retailers’ products. While Google is characterizing Google Express’s closure as an “integration,” it’s really more of a sunsetting of a failed brand. This included new advertising options for brands and online sellers, as well as a universal shopping cart across its platform of services, like Search, Shopping, Images, and even YouTube. The company had already announced its plans to shutter the Google Express brand, as part of a wider redesign of how it approached online shopping. Google’s failed online shopping service Google Express is closing in a few weeks, as its features will be merged into a revamped version of Google Shopping, Google says in an email sent to its customers this week.

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