We’ve seen Amazon pioneer successfully a wave of engagement into Same-Day Delivery of groceries with Amazon Fresh in the US.  From Seattle to New York, the service is in a variety of markets in the US, in addition to launching it in London.  Now same-day grocery is growing in London and BBC Radio talked with grocery chain leader Sainsbury about the service and where it’s headed.

BBC Radio in London has discussed how same-day grocery service is becoming more and more attractive for supermarkets.  Three out of the big four have become involved with implementing and testing online grocery delivery.  Tesco is testing the service in London and the South-East, Morrisons has partnered with Amazon Fresh and Sainsbury’s is piloting it in 30 stores. Grocery retailer Asda has not decided to jump into same-day groceries yet.

Sainsbury is currently testing same-day grocery delivery in 30 stores, and has its’ sites on expansion.  However, the grocery chain leader wants to work out all of the kinks before it does.  Right now with the stores that are offering same-day grocery service, a customer can place their order online by midday and have it delivered that evening.  The fee can be up to 9 pounds, which equates to a little over $11 US dollars.  Orders made by subscribers, or over 100 pounds, would be be free.

One of the primary hurdles for delivering groceries fast has always been costs.  It could be a challenge to generate a profit.  Same-day grocery delivery goes beyond the transportation element.  It entails the pick and packing costs, storage, employee, and other operational expenses specific to the business that could be involved.  Sainsbury mentioned that its’ focus was on giving its’ customers what they want, and relative to taking a loss to offer same-day grocery delivery, it would consider individual store costs on a whole scale.

The radio did a spotlight of a grocery store worker picking and packing an online order.  One part of the process discussed was the actual selecting of the fresh fruit and vegetable items that are ordered.  Although time is critical, the employee stated they had to make sure that the foods selected were ripe and fresh, even something themselves would pick.  With grocery delivery already with a small margin at start-up, choosing the wrong food items or selecting rotten fruit could result in re-delivery costs, as well as customer loss.

An actual delivery by Sainsbury was made that afternoon and BBC went along with them.  The Sainsbury store packed up 45 orders to deliver.  One customer delivered to when asked about same-day grocery service, said that he used it before and it was good. Upon delivery, when asked about the cost of it, the customer stated they paid 5 pounds and that it was fine.

Convenience is heavily trending right now and the retailer that can meet customer demand, will be the ones that thrive. A Same-Day Courier like 1-800 Courier can partner with grocery stores that are seeking to test and implement the service in the US.  The Los Angeles Courier has a national footprint and the delivery expertise to develop an optimal same-day grocery service solution that works.

Reference: 1.25.17, BBC News, Why same-day online food shopping is the next big thing