Amazon has reached an unmatched pinnacle for Same-Day Delivery, as now the e-retail leader has officially completed its’ first drone delivery.

Fox News released an article discussing the first delivery for Amazon Prime Air via drone in Cambridge, England. It appears that drones won’t be used to shipping any heavy items. The delivery comprised of an Amazon Fire TV and some popcorn, which weighed less than 5 pounds.  The total time of delivery was only 13 minutes, which is beyond impressive, but revolutionary.  Amazon says that drones will only take 30 minutes to deliver its’ packages.  In light of what most retailers do in their shipping time frames, 30 minutes will shift many shoppers to getting their items online, instead of stores.

Globally, we are already seeing glimpses of how attractive online retail is becoming. For example, China’s mall traffic decreased in as more November, being that wealthier shoppers are saving their time and enjoy the level of convenience it brings.  This is during the busiest shopping season of the year, which is consistently the most profitable season for malls.  In contrast, China’s largest e-retailer Alibaba, made $18 billion in one day.  Alibaba doesn’t use drones, but does have a robust online retail operation, even offering a same-day delivery option.

Amazon is the largest e-retailer in the US and is expanding at a high rate, utilizing fast delivery options to attract customers as well.  Amazon Prime is a free service in a total of 27 major US cities, which include cities like San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, Seattle-Tacoma, Dallas-Fort Worth, Boston, New York, Chicago, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Washington DC, Nashville, Raleigh, Tucson, Atlanta, Orlando, and Tampa. Amazon has even crossed borders, venturing into Canada and has launched free same-day delivery in Toronto and Vancouver as well.

“One day, seeing Prime Air vehicles will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road,” Amazon says.  It appears inevitable that Amazon will be using drones in every major city in the US, eventually worldwide.  This means drone delivery will cross over into other industries and more business will be found following the pattern of success by Amazon.  The question is how will it affect physical stores and will they make the adjust into moving product via e-commerce.  It’s clear that every business will have to begin putting a heavier focus on convenience shopping and meeting the demand of it.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos tweeted the success of the retailer’s first drone flight, which actually took place on December 7th.  It was guided by GPS and flies no higher than 400 feet.  It was noted that Amazon is very careful with its’ drones use in inclement weather, such as no flying them in rain, snow, or ice, as well as flying in separate air spaces to avoid planes. The article also mentioned that Amazon only has a few customers in the UK that is privy to using them, yet, the e-retail giant hopes to expand to a larger demographic there.

To keep pace with fast delivery, companies can partner with a Same-Day Courier like 1-800 Courier to implement a same-day logistics solutions quickly.  The San Diego Courier has a national footprint and able to deliver in major US cities for retailers, as they compete with Amazon.

Reference:  12.14.16, Fox News, Lulu Chang, From high-flying dream to reality: Amazon fulfills its first order using a drone

Amazon is on top when it comes to having shoppers turn to the e-retailer as their first online order choice.  Let alone it has it’s loyal Prime member base that utilize Amazon.com as it would a physical brick-and-mortar store.  This is exactly how Amazon likes it to be.  It’s recent Prime Day launch showed that Amazon currently has the key to online retail that others have yet to unlock.

Internet Retailer recently reported that Amazon had about 46 million American to make a purchase from its’ site, achieving a 46% conversion rate based on it customer survey.  Well-known Forrester Research has estimated that there are 244 million online shoppers in the US, which makes for a generation of revenue retailers have begun to aggressively pursue.  Based on the numbers by Forrester Research, Internet Retailer estimates Amazon had a $50 per average order value, which equated to about $2.32 billion in transactions.

The leading e-retailer is doing a masterful job at not only giving customers what they want, but also when they want it–even if it’s fast.   Amazon’s free Same-Day Delivery could have had something to do with it.  It expanded earlier this year, now provided in 27 major US cities, which include San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, Washington DC, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando, and many more.  It appears it will soon be nationwide.  For Prime Day, more than likely shoppers utilized the service as well, resulting in Amazon not only gain sales, but also exposure for same-day delivery.

Internet Retailer performed a survey of 191 online shoppers the following day after Prime Day.  In spite of retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target and Kohl’s getting in on creating an online sales campaign of their own, Amazon’s topped them all.  The survey also involved those shoppers that purchased something online in the past year, via online survey company SurveyMonkey.  The results were roughly 19.4% of the respondents said they purchased from Amazon on Prime Day, as well as the e-retailer has a 46% conversion rate.  The industry rate was 3%.

Traditionally, the holiday season has been the time that e-retailers and physical stores advertising big sales.  With Amazon’s clout, it makes sense for Amazon to not wait for the holidays to perform online marketing promotions.  Retailers may have to think outside the box too, in order to capitalize in today’s e-commerce.  One way is the partner with a Same-Day Courier like 1-800 Courier and meet the demand for shopper convenience.  The San Diego Courier can help any retailer draw sales with a same-day delivery operation of their own.  Then, their customers have an option of going to their store and shop, or allow the store to come to their front door.

Reference: 7.13.16, www.internetretailer, Stefany Zaroban, 46 million Americans bought something on Amazon during Prime Day