Target is expanding its same-day delivery service via acquired unit Shipt, opening it up to all major categories of product in 2019 and continuing its efforts to keep customers from fleeing to Amazon Prime, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Pouring more water into its moat, Amazon has totally eliminated shipping charges this holiday season, removing the $25 threshold for non-Prime members on items ordered in time for Christmas delivery. Amazon is also hiring and managing thousands of seasonal delivery drivers to handle the holiday crush.
While most U.S. consumers still favor free shipping over fast shipping, the figure has dropped from last year, according to a new study from Pitney Bowes, driven by millennials’ greater willingness to pay for expedited delivery.
Never content to rest on last week’s disruption, Amazon is now offering online order pickup at select Whole Foods Market stores, including curbside delivery, all for Prime members in an effort to boost membership and gain more territory in the escalating grocery wars.
BoxLock, a smart lock startup, is aiming to address the growing problem of porch piracy by securing ecommerce deliveries through barcode scanning by parcel carriers. It went live on Prime Day and is exclusive to Prime members but that’s bound to change as the solution catches on.
Amazon Prime Day got off to a bit of a rocky start, with a website glitch that disappointed and angered shoppers, a strike in European fulfillment centers and some protests in the U.S. over the sale of books by fringe groups. Yet the company said sales out of the gate were pacing ahead of 2017.
Amazon, vaunted for its free two-day shipping with Prime membership and free returns, has apparently been shutting out some shoppers based on how often they return purchases, according media reports. See what the reaction was and what Amazon said in response.
Building off its Amazon Key offering last fall that lets couriers open smart locks and enter homes to drop off orders, Amazon is now enabling deliveries to the trunks of late-model GM and Volvo vehicles, the company announced.
In the endless march toward greater and faster convenience in shopping across channels, Target announced that 60 outlets in five major markets will offer a same-day delivery service on in-store purchases, making it easier to get bulky items home to an urban dwelling.
Walmart subscription bulk buying subsidiary Sam’s Club is rolling out an Amazon Prime-like service offering unlimited free shipping on nearly all items for its Plus members at $100 a year, $1 more than Prime charges, with no minimum order threshold.