Same-day Delivery Rollouts Speed Up

Delivery times continue to speed up, as three major retailers – Foot Locker, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s – announced plans this week to test or roll out same-day delivery.

Foot Locker, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s are using Deliv to power its same-day delivery services.

In a first in the athletic footwear and apparel space, Foot Locker has started a trial of same-day/next-day delivery at five stores in California, with plans to roll it out at its 1,300 locations across the U.S. and Canada should it prove a success. This includes all the company’s brands: Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Foot Action and Champs.

Two Foot Locker stores in Los Angeles, two in San Jose and one in San Francisco are taking part in the trial.

“We want our customers to experience speed in everything they do, from shooting hoops to on the track,” said Foot Locker EVP of Operations Mike Owens. “That’s why we’ve partnered with Deliv to pair our physical stores and online ecommerce sites to offer flexible, fast and affordable delivery for our customers whether they’re shopping online or in person.”

Deliv is able to make this happen because it has partnerships with four major mall ownership groups (Simon Property Group, General Growth Properties, Macherich and Westfield) representing nearly 800 malls nationwide. All of the Foot Locker locations participating in the trial are in malls owned by the partners.

Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s parent company Macy’s, Inc. said the two department store chains will begin piloting same-day delivery of products purchased online at macys.com, bloomingdales.com and on both brands’ mobile-enabled websites this fall.

Macy’s will offer same-day delivery to customers in eight major U.S. markets – Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New Jersey, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle and Washington, D.C. Bloomingdale’s will offer same-day delivery to customers in four major markets – Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose.

Specific details will be provided as the pilots are launched. Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s same-day delivery is built on an operational foundation that has enabled Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s customers to buy online and pickup in store.

“We will continue to test, to learn, and to proceed aggressively with new ideas that excite our customers and that make shopping more convenient and fun,” said Macy’s, Inc. chairman and CEO Terry Lundgren. “Our goal remains to help our customers shop whenever, wherever and however they prefer, and to use the entire inventory of the company to satisfy demand.”

The same-day delivery sweepstakes certainly seems to be heating up as the summer nears the end. Deeping their existing relationship, the U.S. Postal Service last month started a two-month test run of delivering groceries for AmazonFresh in San Francisco.

Should the trial prove a success, the partners may expand the service to other metro areas. Amazon has job postings for produce handling specialists at its Avenel, NJ distribution and sortation center just outside New York.

AmazonFresh currently delivers groceries in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle.

In August, ecommerce marketplace Newegg rolled out same-day delivery service to customers in the Los Angeles area, joining the ranks of giants like Amazon, Google and Walmart.

Newegg customers who live within 50 miles of the company’s City of Industry, CA distribution center – also the location of its headquarters – are eligible for same-day delivery. They just have to place an order before 11 a.m., select the “Local Express” option if available, and pay $20 extra.

A bright yellow delivery van from the Newegg Express fleet will deliver the item before 6 p.m. The company says it will test the service in the LA area though Christmas 2014. If successful, it will be expanded to Indianapolis, IN, Edison, NJ, and Memphis, TN – all locations where the company has distribution facilities.

 

Also in August, Google announced that customers in Manhattan, San Francisco and West Los Angeles can get same-day delivery of products from Barnes & Noble, bringing to 20 the number of retailers in its Google Shopping Express network.