Google looking to rival Amazon Prime

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a potential new offering by Google that could rival Amazon Prime's shipping feature for member shoppers. Through Google's service, shoppers would be able to browse for products online, pay Google for their purchase and receive next day delivery, which would make the offering almost identical to Amazon Prime.

The rivalry between Amazon and Google has intensified in recent years, as both companies have begun selling digital media, such as ebooks, and as more consumers have made Amazon their de facto search engine for product searches, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In a recent blog post, Scot Wingo, CEO of ecommerce company ChannelAdvisor, said it is a smart idea for Google to try to enhance its online retail earnings.

"Once a consumer joins Amazon Prime, their searches for products at Google have to decrease precipitously," Wingo posted. "Amazon has created a lock-in and it has the world's best product search engine. That's 40 percent of the internet that Google really can't afford to lose serious share on."