Is Amazon Onto Something With Same Day Delivery?

Posted on 28. Oct, 2009 by Matthew Toren in Business, Internet, Websites

As consumers, we simply love to shop. Call it self-enrichment if you want or merely a thirst for the possession of something shiny and new, but in any case we love to take that trip to the mall and come out with bags in hand. Of course dealing with hundreds of pushy shoppers, losing the car in the parking lot and fighting traffic to get home can all get very old, rather quickly and this is part of the reason why online shopping has really taken off over the years. Combine the ease of choosing from the comfort of your office chair with a buying experience that has been perfected over time and you have the right solution for the hermit shopper.

If someone could come up with a solution to combine these two methods, then they would be onto a winner, surely. Bypass all the hassles of physically going somewhere to get something yet still achieve that feeling of instant gratification. Maybe Amazon has come close to helping us achieve this utopian existence through the introduction of their same day delivery service?

Amazon is one of the world’s strongest retailers as we know and when they introduce a new service such as this, anyone involved in the consumer industry stands up and takes notice. Others have tried to achieve the ultimate in fulfillment before, but have not been successful. By and large, the nearest you can get to receiving your goods when you pay for them, other than by going and getting them yourself of course, is to wait for the “before 10 AM” delivery by FedEx or UPS the following day.

Amazon’s local express delivery, remember – local, is available in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, DC, Las Vegas, Baltimore and Seattle. The company is focusing its attentions on these cities to rollout what must be a very logistically difficult operation and it will be intriguing to see how it works.

Figure about $21 for the delivery of an average packet, although if you are an avid online shopper you would do well to become an Amazon Prime member, forking out $79 a year for free shipping and receiving local express delivery in one of the cities for only six bucks.

Will this profit versus cost model work and will it be extended to other cities? You would imagine that people are still too firmly focused on pinching pennies as we emerge from this recession right now, but through clever marketing and the use of loss leaders here and there, maybe this form of delivery will become as popular as pizza.

Would you use Same Day Delivery?

Matthew Toren

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Tags: amazon, delivery, FedEx, online shopper, retailers, UPS

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