Warehousing Becoming Key for Same-Day Delivery and Online Retail

same day deliveryIt takes a strong, complete supply chain for retailers get their product into their customers’ hands, especially when it comes to offering Same-Day Delivery.  Every aspect is critical to not only launching a prime service as this, but having the right systems in place to maintain it.  What strategy is being made known now is that warehousing within the supply chain channel is currently a valuable commodity.

Warehousing is becoming the bedrock of online retail because of same-day delivery and its’ impact.  The industry is accounting for 20% of warehouse space, according to Retail Dive via Bloomberg.  When the expected growth of online retail itself is accounted for, which is $500 billion by 2018, e-commerce is going to cause warehousing operations to not only thrive, but become even more sophisticated.

The article mentioned that the renting of prime warehouse space rose 9.9% in the US last year.  There were  six US markets among the nine total that had the biggest increases worldwide–Oakland being the highest at 29.8%, and it was also seen in Northern New Jersey, according to real-estate brokerage firm CBRE.

CBRE’s head of industrial and logistics research for the Americas, David Egan, told the Wall Street Journal earlier this month, “There are huge premiums being placed right now on being close to the consumer—speed of service, speed of delivery is a critical component of why people choose to buy from one retailer over another.  To get the goods to consumers fast, you have to get close to them.” Close-proximity warehousing adds value to retailers, especially with replacement deliveries, error shipments and even routing services for business-to-business customers.

Warehousing has been what Amazon already had envisioned years ago before same-day delivery became in such a high demand.  The e-retail leader strategically planted multiple order fulfillment centers in close proximity to major US cities, prepping it for the boom in e-commerce to come.  Now, last-mile deliveries have become almost effortless for Amazon, establishing 27 major US city markets in which it provides free same-day delivery.  Eleven of them were added this year, which included Sacramento, Stockton, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Fresno, Louisville, Tucson, Milwaukee, Nashville, Raleigh, and Richmond. The nationwide same-day delivery coverage is inevitable by Amazon, and other nationwide retailers are aggressively in pursuit.

Because of the entrance of same-day delivery, e-retailers and brick-and-mortar stores won’t be able to keep pace with the traditional, centrally-located warehousing systems.  E-commerce has created a market at the fingertip of shoppers and online fulfillment must be just as close. Even the emergence of tablets, smartphones and tech gadgets has resulted in convenience, as well as a heightened retail competition. Price is not the only thing that matters.  Shoppers want service.

Once the warehousing is in place, it is of matter of who can get their product consistently in the hands of customers on time. Physical store and web-based retailers Same-Day Courier like 1-800 Courier to fulfill online order deliveries from their warehouses.  The Sacramento Courier has the courier expertise and technology to develop an optimal same-day solution, whether locally or nationwide. Just like Amazon, retailers can build a same-day delivery program customers trust and will remain loyal to buy from them.

Reference: 5.25.16, www.retaildive.com,Daphne Howland, Report: E-commerce growth driving rush for warehouse space