Close on the heels of its decision earlier this month to cut ties between Amazon and its Express air delivery unit, FedEx is reportedly offering big discounts on the service to draw in more ecommerce business and take it away from rival UPS, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Amidst shifting consumer demand and a move toward true omnichannel, retailers’ ability to leverage their physical presence is vitally important. Options such as deliver from store, buy online pickup in store (BOPIS), buy online return in store (BORIS) and delivery drop-offs in lockers are a major advantage over online retailers.
In the never-ending quest for delivery immediacy, grocer Kroger is testing out 30-minute deliveries in its home market of Cincinnati, cutting the promised time from Amazon’s Prime Now in half. Called Kroger Rush, the service costs $5.95 per order, with the first order free, and requires an app download.
The global shipping landscape may go through one and possibly two seismic shifts this fall: either a Brexit in the UK, a U.S. pullout from the Universal Postal Union, or both. So how should you prepare? How quickly can you adjust your shipping plans? This latest special report from MCM taps experts and explores these issues in detail.
Shooting across Amazon’s bow with its FBA program, Shopify is going all-in on ecommerce fulfillment, tapping 3PL partners to provide two-day delivery across the U.S. for merchants on its ecommerce platform, many with physical stores, while letting them keep customer data and a branded packaging experience.
FedEx has partnered with discount retailer Dollar General, offering dropoff and pickup services at 8,000 Dollar General stores by the end of 2020, giving it rural penetration it lacked. Along with its own stores and partnerships that also include Walgreens, Kroger and Albertsons, FedEx now has a network of 62,000 locations.
After weeks of concentrating its fire on Amazon, Walmart is now dealing with a flank action from Target as the latter has fully integrated its Shipt same-day delivery service with Target.com. Walmart, for its part, just launched a $98 per year subscription program for same-day grocery delivery, a service that normally costs $9.95 per order.
Demand from e-grocery and meal kit sales will lead to development of 70 million-100 million sf of cold storage space over the next five years, up from 214 million square feet, according to a new report from commercial real estate firm CBRE. The 18-29 year old age group is the fastest growing in terms of e-grocery activity.
Five months after investing in two-day ecommerce delivery and returns service ShopRunner, UPS is partnering with the company, offering a year’s free subscription to the 47 million U.S. members of its My Choice program. ShopRunner’s 100+ retail partners include Ann Taylor, Bloomingdale’s, Chico’s and Kate Spade New York.
FedEx has decided not to renew its air shipping contract with Amazon, which expires June 30, in a seeming reaction to Amazon’s growing delivery prowess, including construction of a new air hub outside Cincinnati. Amazon’s ground and international business with the carrier remains intact for now.