Google Buys Parcel pickup kiosk operator BufferBox for $17 million

Google has agreed to acquire Canadian start-up BufferBox, which manages self-service parcel lockers to help consumers avoid missed deliveries, the companies said Friday.

In a recent development, Google has acquired Ontario-based e-commerce company BufferBox for $17 million, thus giving the software giant the potential presence in a market that has long been dominated by Amazon. Bufferbox is basically a service offering users a temporary parcel pickup station for packages ordered online. Meanwhile, the terms of the deal were reportedly not disclosed.

"We are now excited to share that we have been acquired by Google," BufferBox said in a blog posting. “As online shopping becomes a bigger part of how you buy products, we look forward to playing a part in bringing that experience to the next level,” the company wrote. “We couldn’t be happier to be able to continue building out our vision within Google.”

A Google statement said: "We want to remove as much friction as possible from the shopping experience, while helping consumers save time and money, and we think the BufferBox team has a lot of great ideas around how to do that."