Out 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
