Monthly Archives: January 2015

New Deliv Launches Same-Day Delivery To Compete In Online Retail

Online ShoppingIt isn’t safe to say only Amazon and Google can have all the fun, as they both compete in the online retail arena.  Newcomers are coming left and right, joining into the race to provide the best same-day delivery that customers want offered.  Customers want to save money and it’s going to be the e-retailer that can give them what they want, yet at the same time, get what they need themselves that will thrive.  One of those companies looking to make a move before the holiday season doors swings wide open is Deliv.

Deliv is going after the big boys, like Google, when it comes to same-day delivery.  The Wall Street Journal has reported that the Silicon Valley start up company is expanding into 4 additional major metropolitan areas and 18 different shopping centers.  This news release comes right after Google’s announcement of expanding its’ popular Google Express into Chicago, Washington D.C., and Boston.  Google and Amazon have been the frontrunners relative to same-day delivery, giving blow after blow to each other.  However, Deliv appears to want in.

The delivery company has reached an agreement to offer same-day delivery from new malls like the Beverly Center in Los Angeles.  The four new service cities include Seattle, Houston, Washington, D.C., and Northern New Jersey. Deliv’s already has a same-day presence in San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

“This works because we’re more like the airport shuttle with 15 people it’s delivering at once than the yellow cab service with just a single passenger,” said Deliv’s CEO Daphne Carmeli, as she discussed why her company has the right ingredients to make same-day delivery successful.  She went on to say, “It turns out people don’t want their deliveries in one hour, they want set times typically in a few hours. That means we can combine deliveries.”  Deliv has a good point in regards to consolidating orders, which is what makes a same-day courier like 1-800 Courier so cost-effective and service efficient.

It is interesting how Deliv has announced its’ roll-out months after well-known Macy’s released its’ plans to immediately begin offering same-day delivery in several major US cities.  For Macy’s, this is a scaled launch, implementing the service in Chicago, San Jose, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, D.C., Seattle, and New Jersey.  All of these cities have the right demographics to make same-day delivery profitable.  Sister company Bloomingdale’s will be doing the same in some of these cities as well.

Deliv’s partnership with Macy’s to perform the actual, physical deliveries for them is a model that works.  It is an example of how physical store, and web-based retailers can partner with a courier and get online items into the hands of shoppers within hours.  1-800 Courier knows how to implement an optimal delivery solution that meets the order fulfillment needs of online businesses and multiple location companies.  With a Houston courier like 1-800 Courier, any company can quickly implement a same-day delivery program this year, even with attracting sales for the holiday season.

Reference:  9.19.14, CNN Money, Jesse Solomon, An Amazon-Alibaba deal? It’s possible

Macy’s Could Move To Forefront With Same-Day Delivery

Macy'sOut of all of the retailers that have heavily invested and taking big swings at same-day delivery, who would have known that Macy’s could be the one that actually capitalizes the most on the popular service.  Between Google and Amazon, you can take your pick, however, Forbes recently reported about how Macy’s may in fact become the big favorite to crack the code with same-day delivery.

Macy’s trials in the service started in October and now it appears it is becoming more of a reality for the department store right before the holiday shopping season kicks off.  Macy’s will be offering same-day delivery in several cities for orders placed by 1 pm, Monday through Saturday, and by 11 am on Sundays.  Customers will have options for two-hour delivery windows as well.  Macy’s says same-day delivery is “built on an operational foundation” that led to the full roll-out this fall of what is calls BOPIS (buy online, pick-up in-store) across its network of stores, and a part of its’ omni-channel push.

Deliv, Macy’s partner, is not based on the typical approach to same-day delivery, where as it’s crowd-sourced.  Average, everyday people pick up and deliver items for the new upstart.  The newcomer has gone after malls as prime targets to partner with and is so far getting the agreements it needs for solid growth.  It has new malls in Los Angeles such as the Beverly Center on board to join its’ presence already in other areas of the city, as well as San Jose and San Francisco.  Seattle, Washington DC, Houston, and Northern New Jersey also became a cities that Deliv has rolled out in also.  Another viable option for Macy’s is a Los Angeles courier like 1-800 Courier, utilizing an experienced, driver-based service nationwide.

Months ago, Macy’s announced that it would be taking same-day delivery head on and immediately launched it in several major US cities.  Those cities included San Jose, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, Seattle, and New Jersey.  Sister company Bloomingdale’s also was released would be right next the Macy’s and offering same-day in some of those same cities.  As more talk builds regarding Macy’s push to compete, it will clearly be utilizing the service more and more, especially as Amazon and Google make their moves for more share of the retail market.

There is the pricing in Macy’s favor versus other retailers that makes its’ service attractive to shoppers.  Macy’s costs for same-day delivery orders over $99 is only a flat $5 bucks.  Smaller orders are charged standard shipping rates, with an additional $5, drawing shoppers to the same-day option.  Its’ competitors, such as Amazon, is a little higher at $5.99 for Amazon Prime members. However, Non-Prime members will pay $9.98 for the first item, plus $.99 cents for each additional item.  Google Express uses a same-day courier and offers charge options of $4.99 per order or $10 a month and $95 per year.  Walmart To Go is $10 regardless of the order size.  Overall, Macy’s has a very impressive structure to win with the service.

 

Reference:  11.21.14, www.forbes.com, Tom Ryan, Same-Day Delivery May Be A Win For Macy’s

Amazon Expands Again, Same-Day Shipping In Canada

AmazonIt wasn’t but a few weeks ago that Amazon touted about it’s new physical location in Manhattan to assist customers with online orders and to also house a limited amount of inventory to satisfy same-day delivery.  Now, Amazon expands again, yet this time it is just across the border.

Canada’s The Globe and Mail recently reported that Amazon expanded again, announcing its’ launch of same-day shipping in Vancouver and Toronto.  Amazon.ca is establishing the premium service in efforts to compete against Wal-Mart Canada’s free same-day service in Greater Toronto.  Within the last two years, Amazon has added more products, categories and services also.  The new roll-out comes right before doors literally begin to open for the upcoming holiday shopping season.

Kaan Yigit, president of Solutions Research Group, weighed in with input on Amazon’s expansion of same-day delivery in Canada, touching on what it could do for Amazon there.  He stated the new Amazon service could increase volume and order frequency, as Wal-Mart’s service is helping it “start gaining on Amazon…” added Yigit.  Wal-Mart has quietly jumped into same-day delivery and has a number of major US cities in which it offers the service.  With its’ large source of retail locations to act as distribution points, it makes sense for the robust retailer to join in.  Wal-Mart is even offering same-day service for free there, which could be alluding to it toying with this idea in other cities as well.

Amazon wants to stay ahead of the pack and which is probably the reason for so much expansion.  Amazon just added 7 more major US cities into its’ same-day delivery program, consisting of New York City, Baltimore, Dallas, Indianapolis, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Atlanta.  The web-based retailer has multiple distribution centers strategically throughout the US to fulfill online orders, making same-day delivery nationwide for company attainable.  To help the service, Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos even shared last year Amazon’s pursuit of implementing same-day delivery drones.

“It’s all about convenience,” stated Alexandre Gagnon, country manager for Amazon.ca, in a telephone interview from Seattle in regards to Amazon’s expansion of same-day delivery.  “We know that people who shop online at times may want the items faster.”  The same-day service will allow customers that place their orders by noon to receive their packages before 9pm the same day, seven days a week.  The article stated that Amazon will offer one million “eligible” items in Toronto and “hundreds of thousands” in Vancouver, including toys, video games, electronics and household necessities.

Canada Post’s research in 2012 showed 10 to 15 percent of online shoppers said that they would use same-day shipping for some items, said Post General Manager Rod Hart.  In Canada and in the US, there is indeed a market for the service. A same-day courier like 1-800 Courier can assist any retailer roll out a fast delivery program.  Same-day delivery is here to stay and big retailers know it.  As the the holiday shopping season begins, the Chicago courier could be an asset for physical stores to expand and compete.

Reference:  11.5.14, The Globe And Mail, Marina Strauss, Amazon.ca raises stakes in same-day delivery service

UPS Differs With Retailers, Same-Day Delivery Is Not Feasible

487206691Many big name retailers coast-to-coast are doing all they can to unlock the benefits of same-day delivery.  Investments are pouring in from Amazon, Google, Macy’s, Target, eBay, and even the recent Barnes & Noble move to heighten sales.  Online retail has increased annually 16% and as the holiday season rolls in, retailers are trying to stake their claim in the market as the best, cost effective option for the service.  Same-day delivery is what is driving Amazon’s growth into a number of major US cities, including Atlanta.  This is without question a remarkable flood of mobile technology like never before and shoppers can indeed order from anywhere.

This has caused a greater demand to fulfill online orders fast with the convenience factor that shoppers enjoy.  Google and Amazon have even gone a step further then just same-day delivery via people, but same-day delivery via drones.  Amazon has stated its’ goal is the have same-day drone delivery implemented by 2015.  Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos even appeared on 60 Minutes last year touting that same-day delivery drones is high on the e-retailer’s list and it will happen.  Drone use would definitely pioneer a service level path never experienced in the business world, yet there are those that question is this really feasible.  UPS is one of those companies.

In a recent report by Yahoo, UPS stated its’ opinion on the feasibility of same-day delivery and drone use.  UPS delivers 17 million small packages per day and based off its’ know-how, differs from the buzz that same-day delivery will work.  UPS even is a carrier for Amazon, as the retailer even performs same-day delivery under certain conditions. If it isn’t scalable now, why would it be with the addition of drones?  However, the report stated UPS could in fact be considering drone-use, yet this is not known for sure if UPS is taking their crack at the service.

The service is nothing short of convenient and brilliant, however, UPS’s Alan Gershenhorn states the cost of it is the real issue.  “We have a pretty robust service called Express Critical that serves the same-day needs in the marketplace”. he stated.  In UPS’s case, same-day shipping is something it has wrestled with whether consumers would spend the money on it.  UPS worked with comScore to produce the numbers on what customers deemed more important:  free delivery or speed.  ComScore found that 81% of the people survey preferred free delivery over speed.  Only 35% valued expedited shipping options, which for UPS shows the company that it won’t make sense for their business model and it may not for others.“Same day by definition is something that everyone is trying to figure out right now because that’s the buzz in the market. It’s unsure if it’s scalable, especially if it’s a point-to-point delivery,” stated Bala Ganesh, head of retail at UPS, in the report.  Ganesh’s main point here involves the cost effectiveness of point-to-point delivery, such as a pick up at Target and then, delivering the item to the customer’s front door.  UPS feels this service type is inefficient, which is resulting in same-day delivery’s higher charges.

The carrier may have its’ points, yet it appears that same-day delivery must be feasible for other large companies with various factors in place.  Large investments by web-based retailers and brick-and-mortar stores to make same-day delivery a normal part of shopping.  Retailers are also partnering with a same-day courier like 1-800 Courier for delivery cost savings, instead of performing the deliver themselves.  The San Jose courier has services nationwide and has the logistical expertise to implement a same-day delivery solution that is feasible and cost-effective.

Reference:  10.7.14, Yahoo Finance, Shawna Ohm, Same-day shipping & drone delivery may not be feasible: UPS