As the holiday season approaches, a boost in sales is what retailers are expecting to happen with their respective e-commerce.  One of the latest predictions from Adobe Digital Insights shows that retailers will be quite happy with the results.

Adobe conducted a survey of over 1,000 US consumers, which 31% of US consumers stated that they will start their holiday shopping before November 1st.  This is up 5% from last year.  Shoppers appear to be planning to beat the rush in more ways than one, not only in the store lines, but online as well.  More consumers are comfortable with making online purchases, coupled with technology growth via mobile devices, is driving how likely it is for e-commerce to continue to thrive.

In a recent article by Internet retailer, Adobe’s 2016 Digital Insights Shopping Predictions report says that 57 of the 61 days during the holidays will exceed $1 billion in online sales, resulting from e-commerce sales being expected to grow 11% this holiday season.  This equates to $91.6 billion, which will be an increase from $82.5 billion from last year.  It revealed that shoppers are expected to begin buying online early, which will continue after Christmas Day.  For Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, roughly 9.2% of those online sales will occur during that time, accounting for $8.4 billion, according to the Adobe study.

“The biggest online sales days keep getting bigger,” said Becky Tasker, managing analyst with Adobe Digital Insights.  These are the days that consumers take advantage of the sales and discounts that retailers offer online to generate revenue and increase web traffic.  What is happening now is that top retailers are offering Same-Day Delivery to attract shoppers that don’t want to wait on their online orders.  Companies like Amazon, Wal-Mart, Google, Ace Hardware, Best Buy, Costco, and more have all jumped into same-day delivery to capture sales with value-added service options.

Amazon, for example, has taken Amazon Prime into several major US cities nationwide.  Amazon has free same-day delivery in 27 city markets, including the San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle-Tacoma, Dallas-Fort Worth, Indianapolis, New York, Boston, Tampa Bay, Baltimore,Washington DC, Chicago, Orlando, Nashville, Raleigh, Richmond, Tucson, Atlanta, and more.  The e-retail leader also launched free same-day delivery in Toronto and Vancouver in Canada.

During the holidays, consumers will need food items too.  Even Whole Foods has expanded same-day grocery services via the mobile grocery shopping app Instacart.  The grocery chain retailer is adding an unspecified number of markets where it will be offering same-day grocery delivery, in addition to its’ current 17 metro areas where the Instacart delivery option is being offered.

Partnering with a Same-Day Courier like 1-800 Courier can help retailers capture the holiday sales this year.  The New Jersey Courier has the courier expertise and national footprint to quickly implement same-day delivery to compete and attract shoppers to buy online from you during this season.

Reference:  10.27.16, www.internetretailer.com, Zak Stambor, Online sales will surpass $1 billion nearly every day this holiday season, Adobe predicts

If you thought only electronics, household goods and groceries are the only products that are being pushed for Same-Day Delivery, think again.  The Fragrance Shop in the UK is showing retailers that cologne and perfume are among hot items that shoppers want fast too.  With the retailer’s recent results with shipping options, The Fragrance Shop has jumped head first into the trending service.

The Fragrance Shop announced last week that it is going to launch a new one-hour delivery service, as well as a next-day delivery option, in three major areas in the UK.  At one juncture, the retailer only offered online customers a standard, next-day and a nominated day delivery, weekend options and a click & collect service.  As the service attracted shoppers via fast next-day and click & collect options, The Fragrance Shop has now decided to expand into one-hour services.

Mark Kelly, Fragrance Shop’s head of eCommerce, commented on his view on same-day delivery and its’ positive results.  He stated, “Fragrances are typically purchased as a last minute gift, so speed and flexibility of delivery is important. We want to maximize on this by making it easier for customers to make these guilt-free, eleventh-hour purchases. We chose to implement Shutl based on the company’s standing as a market leader in same day delivery and the fact we share the same ethos for superior customer service.”

The fragrance retailer isn’t the only company jumping into same-day delivery in the UK.  Supermarket grocery store chain giant Sainsbury announced the roll out of its’ own same-day grocery delivery, beginning with three testing stores.  Once the service as been effective and established, Salisbury has its’ sites on being in over 30 areas in the United Kingdom.  Many companies are gearing up now for the holiday season ahead.  Same-day delivery is positioning more and more companies to begin to thrive online, as more shoppers are looking for convenience.

Kelly also added in the article, “Shutl enables us to interact with our customers quickly, and in the manner of their choosing. This doesn’t just give customers greater control over when they receive their purchases, but by keeping the delivery time short, they are less likely to change or cancel their order or contact customer services for delivery updates.”  With same-day delivery, a retailer will only be as good as its Same-Day Courier like 1-800 Courier that it partners with for pick ups, deliveries and returns.

As a trusted shipping option, 1-800 Courier has the courier expertise and driver fleet to implement optimal same-day logistic solutions nationwide.  As Amazon continues to capture more and more market share, it will take a bold move for order fulfillment expand to the point of competing with it.  The New Jersey Courier has partnered with companies looking to adapt to today’s e-commerce and grow, especially as they see Amazon steadily getting more sales.  The Fragrance Shop isn’t reserving any investing, but rather is being aggressive about growing online and using fast delivery options.

Reference: 8.10.16, www.essentialretail.com, Caroline Baldwin, The Fragrance Shop rolls out one-hour delivery

Wal-Mart isn’t sitting on the sidelines any longer, allowing Amazon to have all of the online increase and market share fun.  Wal-Mart has joined into the race to heavily invest into generating revenue for its’ web sales by creating a membership and shipping program of its’ own–and it appears to be working.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is hoping free shipping with two-day delivery will lure more shoppers to WalMart.com. Recently the worldwide retail leader announced that it will offer free 30-day trial memberships to its’ new ShippingPass pilot program.  The program launched last year mainly to compete Amazon and its’ Prime membership success.  Regarding price, ShippingPass does have Amazon beat at $49, which is half the price of Prime at $99.  Customers will be able to buy online items such as clothing, electronics, health products, and more via Walmart.com.  There will be a logo next to all products that are eligible for ShippingPass.

Fernando Madeira, president and CEO of Walmart.com, commented on the ShippingPass service.  “ShippingPass is about half the price of similar programs out there at just $49 a year, and customers who are using it, love it,” Madeira said.  However, Paula Rosenblum, managing partner at consulting and research firm RSR Research LLC, discussed how Wal-Mart may have some obstacles.  “Wal-Mart has a problem. Its sales are basically flat.  It is trying all different kinds of initiatives to drive customers to its site, and get them to buy repeatedly. One of the things it’s trying is basically Prime at half the price.  This sounds good on paper, but does miss out on some of the other benefits Prime members get, including content, e-books, and where available, free two-hour delivery,” stated Rosenblum.

Wal-Mart has begun to implement Same-Day Delivery to compete with Amazon’s free Prime service.  It recently announced that it will launch several same-day grocery delivery pilot programs in Denver, as well as another unidentified market this month.  The program will utilize Lyft and Uber ride-hailing services to perform the actual pick up and deliveries.  Same-day delivery requires close proximity store locations.  With over 3,400 Supercenters in the US, Wal-Mart stores can fulfill online orders and maintain low delivery fees.

The article also mentioned how CEO Doug McMillon wasn’t pleased with the retailer’s e-commerce growth.  Wal-Mart has only experienced a 7% year-over-year global growth.  Online retail as a whole has consistently increased over 15%, which shows why Wal-Mart has decided to dive into next-day shipping.  The new shipping method is the first step to shifting more traffic to WalMart.com and generating a higher percentage of the online retail sales that can clearly be seized.  If Wal-Mart doesn’t begin to compete online with Amazon, the robust retailer will continue to find itself, not so robust, when it comes to e-commerce.

Wal-Mart not only has rolled out next-day shipping, but also Same-Day Delivery to enable the retail leader to meet the same online demands as Amazon.  A pilot program for same-day grocery delivery was launched that past June in Denver, Colorado, as well as another unidentified market.  Uber and Lyft ride-hailing services is partnering with Wal-Mart to perform the actual pick up and deliveries within Denver and surrounding areas.  More than likely, Wal-Mart has plans to expanding the service to other major US cities.

They could partner with 1-800 Courier, which is a Same-Day Courier that can build same-day delivery solutions and consistently perform on-time deliveries.  The New Jersey Courier has extensive experience and expertise in last-mile deliveries within the northeast, as well as nationwide, and can help Wal-Mart’s ShippingPass grow.

Reference: 6.29.16, www.internetretailer.com, Matt Lindner, Wal-Mart offers a free trial of its Amazon Prime-like free shipping program

If there’s one thing for sure, Amazon knows what it’s doing providing Prime members free two-day shipping.  Since shoppers feel they have a level of peace of mind with using Amazon throughout the year, it’s a deal that appears to be well worth it.  With its’ latest move, Amazon now has decided to, at the least, test the waters to see if non-Prime members will come on board, expanding its’ already dominating market share online.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Amazon has announced that it is raising its’ minimum online order amounts for non-Prime members from $35 to $49 to qualify for free shipping.  The new threshold is said to be an incentive for regular customers to become Prime members.  For $99 annually, Prime members get to receive free unlimited two-day shipping, in addition to streaming movie and music service.  For roughly a decade, Amazon’s minimum order threshold was $25 until 2013, which the retailer took the amount up to $35.

Amazon has reasons to make Prime bigger.  The article mentioned how the retail leader’s annual Prime fee can account for between $4 billion and almost $6 billion in revenue per year, based on estimates in the range of 40 million to 60 million members.  Also, Prime customers spend about double what non-members do over the course of the year, so it makes sense why Amazon is analyzing what can get border line non-members to switch to Prime.

The increase in the minimum amount also has to do with Amazon’s pursuit to contain its’ shipping costs.  The article stated that shipping expenses went up by 37%, equating to $4.17 billion in the last quarter of 2015.  This meant as a percentage of sales, its’ shipping costs increased 12.5%, up from 10.9% in 2014.   In response to order amount increase, Amazon only stated that “from time to time, we review our shipping options.”  With it still being early in the year, the retailer could be attempting to recoup for from the higher shipping expenses.  It also could be preparing to make sure it doesn’t have the same shipping cost results this year.  The more that customers order, the more revenue is generated to offset shipping costs.

With online shopping is expected to reach to $500 billion by 2018, Amazon knows the time is now to continue its’ momentum as the leading US e-retailer.
The competition is already locked in with the same $49 minimum, even higher.  Wal-Mart’s minimum is $50, Jet.com is at $35 and Target offers a minimum of $25.  Amazon’s shift to a higher minimum will get the attention of other retailers and they will shift their shipping options, if they deem it necessary to gain market share.  Some retailers have turned to Same-Day Delivery to attract shoppers as well.

A number of retailers and businesses have partnered with 1-800 Courier is a New Jersey Courier on the service aspect of fulfilling orders once their purchased online.  The Same-Day Courier utilizes the latest in courier technology to assist companies in maximizing their e-retail operations and devise shipping strategies to compete with Amazon, Macy’s and more.

Reference: 2.22.16, www.wsj.com, Greg Bensinger, Amazon Boosts Free-Shipping Minimum to $49, Elevating Prime Service

When it comes to the weather, you don’t want a coat to be hard to come by, especially in the big apple–New York. Like  number of big name retailers, one company has decided to capitalize on same-day delivery and make it easy to get one when you need it the most.

The New York Daily News has recently released an article showing how Triple F.A.T. Goose is helping New Yorkers beat the cold with offering free on-demand same-day delivery for their premium coats.  The temperature in the big city is beginning to drop, hitting the middle of the winter season.  It is ingenious for the retailer to take advantage of a market that is thriving, seizing a prime moment right after the holiday season.  This also keeps Triple F.A.T. in front of shoppers, making it known to be an aggressive retailer and competing with a service option that so many well-known retailers are utilizing to increase their sales.

Triple’s same-day delivery service will begin this Wednesday, January 13th. for its’ coats anywhere in the Manhattan area.  This is one of the big city areas known for business and has high traffic.  The company’s coats are popular for their durability and built to handle arctic temperatures, exclusively available on its’ website.  One of Triple F.A.T. Goose’s coats that it will deliver on-demand will be the Ovstyn coat. This is not a regular coat, selling for $400.  Another item among the retailer’s product line will be the Hesselberg coat, regularly priced at $450 at triplefatgoose.com.

Just as other retailers have their same-day delivery time frame for orders, so does Triple.  Shoppers will have to place their online order by 11 am to receive their quality coat the same day.  All orders after 11am will be received the following day.  Also, the retailer will be offering a 10% discount on its’ coats between the the start date of the 13th., until the 22nd. of this month.  This gives enough time to advertise the company’s same-day delivery and get a good gauge on the demand by customers for it.  More than likely, Triple F.A.T. Goose will analysis whether it needs to spread the service into other parts of New York as well.

Anytime that same-day delivery is initiated, there has always been a testing phase for the service.  Then, if the pieces fit, the retailer moves forward with implementation.  Several retailers usually test same-day delivery in San Francisco, and then, launched it in other major US cities. It will be interested to see if Triple does the same if the on-demand service is successful in Manhattan.  If so, the retailer could spread the service into other boroughs, even other cities in New York.  Even beyond New York, other cold big cities could use big coats fast too during this time of the year.

Most retailers that offer same-day delivery don’t conduct the service on their own.  A Same-Day Courier like 1-800 Courier partners with several retailers to help implement last-mile deliveries nationwide.  The New Jersey Courier has the logistical expertise to create a variety of same-day courier solutions to help retailers elevate their online business.  If Triple desires to expand with same-day delivery, 1-800 Courier will be a viable option to turn to in the months to come.

Reference: 1.8.16, www.nydailynews.com, Tracy Brock, Jackets on demand delivery service offers New Yorkers an easy way to escape the cold