A new report suggests that two Google Express delivery hubs located in San Francisco and Mountain View, California are being shut down. For those who are unaware Google Express is the company’s same-day delivery service that has been live in select markets for quite some time now. Apparently the decision to shut down these hubs is part of Google’s plan to revamp the same-day delivery service.
Google Express was launched back in March 2013 but even though it has been around for two years it hasn’t made much of a different in the market where competitors like Amazon and various same-day delivery startups compete for market share.
The service is only available in seven major cities across the country, Google doesn’t stock any of the goods that it sells through Express instead it partners up with retail and shipping outlets, picks up the goods from them and delivers to the customer on the very same day.
A hub model was used for Google Express when it launched in the Bay Area, customers could order products from partners and drivers would then deliver those goods from two locations either on the same day or overnight.
Re/code reports that Google is now changing course, the decision to shut down these hubs might have to do something with rising costs of maintaining drivers and cars. However Google has not yet commented on this report and there’s no official confirmation from the company about the closure of the delivery hubs.
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