The Market, the Competition & the Consumer

Google Express' competitors (direct and/or indirect) are retailers that offer online shopping services. Within that bucket, we have Amazon Grocery Store, Fresh Direct, Target, and WalMart. Although there has been a lag in the growth of online grocery technologies and user adoption, with the new smartphones and home devices that integrate a "personal assistant", it is a matter of time until consumers start experimenting with the capabilities of this new generation of artificial intelligence machines.

Convenience will trump the need to "try-it-before-you-buy-it", and the reluctance towards online grocery shopping will dissipate. As technology evolves, the more consumers will rely on their mobile devices for their daily routines, and the more artificial intelligence enabled devices will come into play and become part of their daily lives. "Going digital" is the new normal for the vast majority of consumers, especially for generations Y and Z.  

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Research

1.  "by 2025, online grocery spending is expected to reach $100 billion and 72% of all shoppersare projected to conduct 25% of their grocery shopping online" (Skrovan, 2017)

2.  "by 2020, there will be more than 30 billion connected devices" (Business Insider), and

3.  "70% of millennials in the US will use a brand or retailer that offers AI technology to do their shopping for them and is able to accurately predict what they want", (Sonar, J. Walter Thompson's proprietary research unit).

The automation of tedious errands that add constraints to the consumers' efficiency and productivity, is inevitable

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Current Strategy & Vision

Google Express is an e-commerce platform for a more cohesive vision for brands, advertisers, and shoppers.  The core vision is to become the "gatekeeper" platform that enables people to find information and shop all in one place, aiming at directly influencing, facilitating, and streamlining online ordering and delivery from retailers.  The goal is to provide same-day or next-day delivery without having to disrupt the shoppers' day.

Scaling and optimizing the platform has proved to be a difficult task.  Logistics, operations, and monetization are rather difficult to achieve.  The question of how can we drive shoppers to the platform, adoption, and conversions, is still unanswered.

Hypotheses, Value Prop & User Stories

Customer segment

Working professionals with or without children between the ages of 25 and 35 (born between the years of 1983 and 1993; millennials and early centennials):

1. Millennial Generation: 1980 - 1996
2. Centennial Generation: 1995 - 2009-12 (researchers still debate the end year)

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Problem - Need(s)

Due to most major cities' lifestyle (i.e. NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, etc.) consumers tend to find "making a grocery list" tedious and/or time-consuming, stressful and inconvenient. The new generation of professionals are working long hours and nearly 40% are going to graduate school. Trying to juggle between work, school, extracurricular activities, and family means that "saving time" is of paramount importance. The need to "save time", increases the urge to use "devices" as a way of shopping. New market dynamics and consumer needs are leaning toward the use of technology to gain freedom, efficiency, and productivity. 

Behavior Driven Hypothesis Development:  "As a full-time professional and a part-time graduate student, I want to have free time so I can have a relaxing and care-free weekend."

Business story/hypotheses:  Mark, who is a financial analyst at Deutsche Bank and a part-time MBA Stern student, will use Google Express to do his grocery shopping. This will allow him to gain at least 3 hours of valuable time and have the freedom and peace of mind to do anything else but his grocery shopping during the weekend.

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Customers Interviews

The customer interviews and user tests were done on a one-on-one basis, in order to get directional feedback on the general idea and value proposition. 

• 80% (12/15) expressed that the habit of making a list and/or doing their grocery shopping was tedious, time-consuming and wished there was a way to not do it (like laundry)
• They showed strong interest in having an AI or some sort of automation that will help them save time when doing their shopping - "even if it saves me 3 seconds I'll use it"
  

--> API: Google Express & messaging apps 

(Google Pixel, Android Phones)

• Use case #3: Manual Order or Add to List via App
  

You are at work, and your other half/roommate/sibling messages you that you ran out of water. No worries, you can access Google Express from your messaging app and automatically add it to your list.

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Flowcharts For Use Case #3

First Stage: Messaging App - "Add to list"

Second Stage: Google Express App - Checkout

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Wireframe For Use Case #3

First Stage: Messaging App - "Add to list"

Option A: "add only items on text message"

Option B: "add more items after you have added the items from the text message"

Feature Impact VS Complexity

• ML, DL, Neural Networks
• Building API capabilities
• API with multiple apps: 
• (i) Google Express API with Google messaging apps
• (ii) Google Express API with Google Assistant on Androids (Google Assistant app, shopping list, Google Keep Notes, build the ecosystem on Google AI)
• Google Express added features / new algorithms:
• (i) Coupons and/or promotions from other retailers (other than the "preferred" retailer of user)
• (ii) Alternative cheaper options or availability (other than the "preferred" retailer or brand of the user)

Recommended Approach

1. Identify resources and time needed to start small VS. going all in: creating one API that will only integrate Google Express with Google messaging apps VS. creating the proposed one-in-all API
   
2. Financial cost and loss of market impact in excluding non-android phones
   

Key Constraints & Potential Risks

Excluding the market, competition, user-adoption and operational mentioned earlier, below are additional constraints and risks that might hinder the success of the optimized Google Express

Legal & Regulatory: The Internet and AI are changing the world and helping us shape our world. In this instance, it is revolutionizing the future of retail and e-commerce. It will make decisions about what, when and how we buy, and how much it costs. It will control our interactions. This will affect the regulations and laws around competition, consumer protection, privacy, and cyber-security. It might also have an effect on government intervention. How can we make sure that technology and the evolution of the world wide web stay open and free.

Technology: Given the complexity of such a system, a significant amount of testing, iteration, and constant growth and upgrades will be needed in order to be successful. This means that time, capital and human resources will be heavy.

Financial: Developing an e-commerce platform entails many external factors that are not under the control of the company. You need to invest in teams that will establish partnerships with retailers, customer service, identify potential delivery service providers that align with your vision and mission. In addition, building an entire ecosystem powered by AI and at the same time have cross-functional collaboration with other product teams, involves more than actual creation costs. It requires ongoing time commitments and collaboration from many in-house/external teams.