Same Day DeliveryBII

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Customers are increasingly desiring same-day delivery from their favorite retailers, but those customers should be prepared to be sorely disappointed.
A Deloitte survey revealed that 96% of U.S. consumers consider same-day or next-day delivery to be fast, while just 63% feel the same way about three-day or -four day shipping. These figures should encourage retailers to adjust their shipping processes to meet this demand, but a new survey from Boston Retail Partners indicates that retailers have no plans to implement a same-day delivery service.
According to the survey, a mere 9% of North American retailers currently offer same-day delivery and feel it is working well, while 13% have a same-day delivery program that they feel needs improvement. Meanwhile, 29% plan to implement one in the next three years.
But perhaps the most telling statistic is that 49% have no plans whatsoever to offer same-day delivery.
This demonstrates a tremendous disconnect from consumers' desires, and it also could deter potential customers who are gravitating toward e-commerce retailers who do offer same-day delivery. Approximately 53% of U.S. customers are more likely to make an online purchase if they offer same-day delivery, according to Coldwell Banker Commercial.
Online shoppers who take advantage of same-day delivery are also loyal customers because they will continue to use the same retailer in order to get same-day fulfillment. Amazon leads the pack in this regard with its Prime Now same-day delivery option, which is available for members who subscribe to Amazon Prime.
Since Prime Now launched in December 2014, 25% of Prime members have used Prime Now, according to data from Cowen & Company cited by MarketWatch. Furthermore, 70% of Prime Now customers use it multiple times per month, and 24% do so at least one per week.
So it's clear that brands and retailers who do not offer same-day delivery run the risk of losing consumers who don't want to wait for packages.
One possible option for retailers who do not want to do this is to partner with third-party fulfillment companies. Shopify, for example, has partnered with Postmates to bring same-day delivery to more than 20,000 of its merchant clients. This partnership lets thousands of merchants use Postmates to provide same-day delivery wherever available, which is currently in 40 metropolitan areas in the U.S.
To be sure, there are several expenses and complexities involved in same-day delivery, but it's clearly becoming a necessity for retailers that want to stay competitive.
Cooper Smith, senior research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on same-day delivery that takes an exhaustive look at this market and sizes the percentage of people who will purchase goods to be delivered the same day.
The report uncovers the demographics of same-day delivery customers, the markets where these services have the best chance of taking off, and assesses how each of the many new same-day delivery entrants compares to the others. It also looks at the technology that really could make getting a package delivered to your door hours after you order it a common phenomenon.
Here are some of the key points from the report:
  • USE: BI Intelligence estimates that 2% of shoppers living in cities where same-day delivery is offered have used such services. In dollar terms, we estimate that roughly $100 million worth of merchandise will be delivered via same-day fulfillment this year in 20 US cities.
  • CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS: Consumer interest in same-day delivery is already fairly high. Four in 10 US shoppers said they would use same-day delivery if they didn't have time to go to the store, and one in four shoppers said they would considering abandoning an online shopping cart if same-day delivery was not an option.
  • DEMOGRAPHICS: The most common same-day delivery shopper fits a very specific profile — millennial, highly likely to be male, urban-dwelling, and young. The products people want delivered same-day are also fairly niche.
  • BARRIERS: Despite all the competition in the same-day delivery market, it still won't be easy to get people to pay for these services. 92% of consumers say they are willing to wait four days or longer for their e-commerce packages to arrive.