The Chicago Tribune has reported that Tool retail leader Ace Hardware is rolling out a testing program for same-day delivery in 33 of its’ 4,400 stores nationwide.  These select stores are found in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Texas and Florida.  There is also one hardware store in Chicago that will be a part of the pilot same-day delivery launch also.  It appears that these pilot stores are just a start for Ace.  There will be more same-day service stores to come.

Your latest Dewalt power drill or Craftsman tool kit are now just a few of the unexpected retail item that we can now get delivered within hours.  Another retailer, pet food company Petco, falls into the same category.  Like Ace, Petco launched testing of same-day delivery in San Francisco and Boston.  Instacart is Petco’s delivery partner, set to pick up and deliver dog food, birdhouses, kitty litter and other well-known items for pet care.  For cost savings and delivery efficiency, most same-day retailers partner with a same-day courier like 1-800 Courier to perform the deliveries.  Currently, Ace store associates will perform the deliveries; however, as the same-day delivery program expands, Ace may very well follow suit.

For online orders placed by 1pm, customers can use Ace’s Express delivery service available within 5 miles of any of its’ participating testing stores.  Same-day delivery will be only an additional $5 fee to a customer’s order.  The pricing falls in line with most same-day pricing.  For example, Petco’s service fee as fast as within an hour, costs between $3.99 and $5.99.  Department store chain Macy’s launched the service in 8 major US cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, Seattle, Houston, Chicago, Washington DC, and New Jersey.  It’s service is priced at a flat fee of $5 for orders over $99.  Shoppers with smaller orders pay standard shipping rates, plus the flat rate.

Even Wal-Mart offers same-day delivery in multiple US cities.  Walmart To Go costs $10, regardless of the order size and in some parts of Canada the service is free, competing with Amazon there.  Good low pricing is attractive to online shoppers that are use to getting deals.  Like Wal-Mart, Ace Hardware have the advantage of brick-and-mortar store locations have enough locally-sourced products for low pricing to work.  This is exactly the outfit for malls, which in the Chicago Tribune, Woodfield Mall and Water Tower Place were examples that started offering on-demand car service last year.  Customers can make their purchases at the store, and have their items delivered home as they continue shopping or movie watching.

Ace’s new program began January 26th and is an extension of the tool company’s online order and pick up in store service currently available at 1,600 Ace stores.  The creation of omnichannels is what retailers are after, as online businesses can be more of a strength and help balance local store sales.  Online retail is forecasted to increase to $500 billion by 2018, therefore, this is the right move for Ace.  Other retailers in a wide range of industries are all setting up ways to make overall shopping convenient.  1-800 Courier is a Chicago courier that can help Ace Hardware and other physical store retailers optimize on same-day delivery as e-commerce grows.