Other retailers are doing same-day delivery one way, when Amazon appears to be doing it another. The company is doing something that hasn’t been heard of with the popular service, but with all of its’ expansion, there’s reason to believe that it just may work–for free.
The Chicago Tribune has reported that the retailer has now launched free same-day delivery in Chicago and Orlando. This is another phase of Amazon’s all-out plan to implement the service free nationwide. The service being made free began in some California cities, which included 14 Los Angeles metropolitan cities earlier this year. The additional two cities now makes the service available in 16 markets.
The service is free for Prime members for all orders over $35. Although the online Prime catalog has 20 million items to choose from, free same-day delivery there will have over 1 million items available. The vast amount of things to shop for includes everything from tech gadgets, household goods, and more. Online orders that are placed by noon, will be delivered by 9pm the same day. All items placed after noon, will be delivered the next day. This gives shoppers the fast service options they are looking for.
In the Chicago area, free same-day delivery will extend north to Evanston and Arlington Heights, south to Oak Lawn and west to Glen Ellyn and Downers Grove, a spokeswoman said in the article. The launch of the service was preceded by Prime Now this past summer, being available in select Chicago zip codes. Although the service has been rolled out in Orlando as of Wednesday, the coverage area there was not mentioned.
Amazon’s other major cities where same-day delivery is offered may become free also. The retailer’s same-day delivery program is currently in the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, Dallas-Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Boston, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Washington DC, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, and in its’ hometown of Seattle. This could mean a strong ramp up of free delivery implemented in these cities before the holiday season begins. Other retailers are partnering with a Same-Day Courier like 1-800 Courier to get their same-day service going. The Orlando Courier can service nationwide for the most robust retailers in the market.
Macy’s is an example of a retailer that partnered with Deliv and implemented an aggressive pursuit to offer same-day delivery. It does believe in the importance of the service, aiding Macy’s in becoming an effective omnichannel retailer. With roughly 885 stores nationwide and great volume, Macy’s may have the capability of offering the service for free in the future also. It’s stores can acting warehouses for online order fulfillment. It also have same-day delivery in just as many markets as Amazon.
The climb is being made steeper for web-based and physical store retailers with Amazon’s free same-day delivery service. Pricing for the delivery fee by most retailers for the service is around $5. Regardless, it will require a substantial amount of delivery expertise to not only launch same-day delivery, but also the economies of scale in order to make it last.
Reference: 10.21.15, www.chicagotribune.com, Meg Graham, Amazon brings free same-day delivery to Chicago
