The free two-day shipping is a terrible temptation for impulse buyers, however, as Amazon is only too aware.

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Instead of one- or two-day shipping, items arrive in five to 10 days.

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There's no indication that free two-day shipping or streaming video will be coming to Russia anytime soon, but the ereader market seems as good a place as any to start a quest for dominance.

ENGADGET

John Sheehan, the 31-year-old co-founder of a San Francisco software startup, says he will use Google Shopping Express for 10% to 20% of the purchases he would otherwise make through Amazon, which only offers two-day shipping in the city.

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Instead of bombarding potential customers with lots of deals every day, each site only offers two deals a day, products are in stock with same-day shipping, and products are highlighted in a way that showcases their boutique-quality.

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