Google is expanding its same-day delivery service “Google Express” to fresh groceries starting with San Francisco and Los Angeles in the initial stage and has also patented two parcel delivery innovations including a self-driving truck with individual parcel lockers and a mobile “delivery receptacle” to secure packages delivered via drones.
As part of Google Express, consumers in selected areas of San Francisco and Los Angeles can now order fresh groceries such as meat, eggs, tomatoes, milk, bread and other perishable goods and get them delivered within hours after an order has been placed, US media reported.
While competitors Amazon or Fresh Direct maintain expensive refrigerated warehouses near cities they delivery groceries to, Google will deliver directly from its existing retail partners to avoid food spoilage. The company is reportedly cooperating with Costco Wholesales, Whole Foods market, Smart&Final Stores, Nob Hill Found, Vincente Foods and others.
To accommodate fresh groceries, Google is also apparently making some changes to its current delivery operations such as reducing the delivery time slot from four to two hours for customers. The minimum value for an order including fresh groceries has also been raised from $15 to $35. For Google Express members who pay $95 per year, fresh food deliveries will cost $2.99 and $4.99 for non-members.
Last week, Google was granted a US patent for a self-driving parcel delivery truck with integrated parcel lockers that are secured by a PIN code to deliver products ordered online to their recipients which eliminates the need for delivery drivers.
Published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Google’s new patent explains that the truck would use a combination of sensors such as radar, video cameras, and range-finding lasers to see the road and traffic around it. The autonomous delivery vehicle would notify the recipient about its departure and arrival via a message.
Along with delivering parcels, the self-driving van could also collect mail and parcels from customers for shipping. In case of free parcel compartments in the truck, shippers would put in their parcel. To pay for the shipments, they would use an electronic payment system which could also be implemented for “cash-on-delivery” shipments.
The destination address could be changed in a dynamic way, e.g. if the recipient prefers to re-direct the parcel to another location. The truck’s electronic system is also supposed to calculate the most optimal route which can change several times during the day depending on the traffic or if the recipient postpones the delivery to another point in time.
Google believes that this parcel delivery concept could significantly increase the logistical efficiency compared to human deliverers. Whether this concept is realistic in practical terms remains to be seen.
Last month, Google already received a patent for its delivery receptacle representing boxes on wheels that can take a package delivered by a drone to a secure location as the company plans to start parcel deliveries via drones in 2017 as part of “Project Wing”.
In the patent which was filed in 2014 but granted only in January, Google explains that providing "detailed delivery instructions" to drones may be difficult for "the limited vision system of the aerial delivery device to interpret". A drone may not be able to recognise where to deliver a parcel without the risk of the parcel to be stolen.
The patented receptacle would use infrared beacons to connect with drones in the air and then guide them for delivery. The receptacle would then take the package to a safe location such as a garage.
Google explains in the patent that it has developed this drone delivery concept also for safety reasons. “An aerial delivery device that is powered by a rotor or an impeller may be dangerous to pets, overhead power lines, ceiling fans, or other features or residents at a delivery location."
While the patent may not become a reality, it offers some insight into the competition among different companies trying to come up with the most innovative drone delivery concepts such as Amazon or DHL, to name a few.
Filing patents for such innovative concepts as the self-driving parcel delivery truck or a movable drone delivery receptacle at least protects the idea ensuring no other competitor can copy it, whether it will be finally implemented or not.
