A number of retailers are competing against Amazon for more of the market online. However, Amazon continues to aggressively plow forward with same-day delivery and advancing with its’ expansion plans. The latest news shows that Amazon’s growth won’t be slowing down.
Amazon has just announced more expansion of same-day delivery with now officially offering the service in Baltimore and Miami. Just late last year, the retail leader launched same-day delivery programs in several major US cities at the same time. Those cities included New York City, Dallas, Indianapolis, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Dallas, and lastly, Atlanta. Bloomsberg reported how Prime Now members in the Baltimore and Miami area will be available in certain zip codes for the initial roll out. It will then expand into more city areas.
Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations commented in the e-retailer’s original statement in regards to the new launch. “Since launching, we’ve seen high demand on everything from essentials like water and paper towels to more surprising deliveries like getting a customer a hard-to-find, top-selling toy,” said Clark. Amazon has tens of thousands of products for its’ customers, from household products and shampoo, to electronics and tools. Prime Now one-hour delivery is $7.99 and two-hour delivery is free. Physical store retailers will have to compete with Amazon for shoppers, therefore, same-day delivery is more than just optional.
Amazon’s 40 million Prime members pay $99 annually and for the service, they will only have the additional charge for same-day delivery. Online competitor Google Express, has its’ service priced at $4.99 per order or customers can pay $10 per month and $95 annually. Newcomer Petco is charging $5 bucks for same-day delivery in 33 of its’ 4,400 stores in select cities in Arizona, Illinois, Texas, Colorado, Maryland, and Florida. Wal-Mart’s same-day service is a flat $10, regardless of the order size.
Amazon is forcing brick-and-mortar stores to invest in online retail growth via same-day delivery. Macy’s is one retailer that launched same-day programs in a volume of stores, which included Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Houston, Chicago, Washington DC, and New Jersey. Sister company Bloomingdale’s, also made the service available in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose. Macy’s service is a flat rate of $5 for orders over $99. It partnered with Deliv to perform the actual deliveries, a fairly new delivery company.
Department stores like Macy’s and e-retailers can partner with a same-day courier like 1-800Courier to provide last-mile deliveries. Consolidated deliveries is what the Miami courier specializes in and is able to create cost efficiency for order volume. A courier has the driver and logistical expertise to develop an optimal same-day solution for any retailer. With Amazon’s pace, retailers will have to keep up and one way is by investing into a same-day operation.
With online retail’s projected growth of $500 billion by 2018, it’s no wonder why Amazon is in hot pursuit to establish its’ reach within major US cities. Same-day delivery in Baltimore and Miami are only a few cities that Amazon will expand in, which more are reported to come on line this year also.
Reference: 3.19.15, www.bloomberg.com, Annie Massa, Amazon Expands Same-Day Delivery to Baltimore and Miami
