Google wants to get into the delivery and services business in India with the launch of its new Areo app in the region. The app is said to allow for users to have their food delivered as well as seek out plumbers, electricians, painters, cleaners and so on.
Google is getting into the restaurant delivery and home services businesses in India (Google)
The idea is not essentially new, but it combines two already very broad marketplaces into one nifty app. The app, although being launched only in two cities – Bangalore and Mumbai currently, will be available in more cities soon. But those who have used the app will learn to appreciate the effort it makes at understanding the choice and preferences of users. Areo can search for delivery options from nearby restaurants as well as search for dishes and items that may be delivered to them. Should the user have any dietary preferences, they can filter that out in their search and Areo will be able to provide the most apt options to choose from.
The app also applies the same process for booking for appointments of services as well. But what makes Areo different from other service providers, is that merchants can be paid directly through the app rather than having to redirect the customer to the merchant website. Right now, because Areo is still not fully established in India, the app only supports certain merchants but as time goes by, there will be a lot more people waiting to get in line to be a part of Areo.
Big players such as Swiggy, Zomato and Amazon’s HomeJoy were not mentioned in the app. Whether Google will be adding them in the future remains to be seen. Google is also making it easier for companies to partner with the app since they are not charging partners anything in becoming service-providers through the app. Whether Google will change this policy in the future or whether they will discretely charge users and partners alike is also yet to be seen. This is not the first time that Google has ventured into the aggregator realm. The company previously also did similar work when they established the Google Hotel Finder as well as the Google Flights verticals which helped in finding hotel bookings and book flights.
Maybe Google will club every parallel service aggregator into one big aggregator and offer flight booking, hotel booking, service appointments and home delivery? It’s not impossible.
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