Online retailer Amazon has launched it first same-day delivery service in the UK which allows customers to be able to shop and collect orders within less than 12 hours from their local newsagent or high street shop.
While this is a major move for the e-tailer, and described by the UK MD of Amazon, Christopher North, as its “fastest delivery service yet”, there is always room for more.
Omer Artun, founder and CEO of predictive analytics company, AgilOne comments:
“For certain products, instant gratification is still very important. In particular categories, for example fashion, Amazon has not been able to make as much progress as they would like. Some of the brick and mortar retailers have successfully adopted the online tactics of Amazon, and are already doing same day click and collect.”
The new service, cleverly branded Pass my Parcel, will make use of Connect Group‘s notable overnight distribution network, the newspaper distributor formerly known as Smiths News. Shoppers placing orders by 7.45pm will be able to collect their package 6.30am the next morning or, if ordered by 11.45am, from 4pm the same day. Texts or e-mails will alert recipients to the arrival of their parcel.
Pass my Parcel will initially be free to members of Amazon‘s £79 per year Prime premium service and cost £4.99 per delivery for non-members.
“Amazon will have to be careful in order to succeed. Complex shopping data will be needed to ensure stock is available and within reach of pickup locations. The American cosmetics retailer 100% Pure, used online shopping data on customers to decide exactly where to open stores and what products to stock, in doing so they were able to increase same day store sales by 700%.If Amazon imitate this strategy, they could have a leg up” Artun says.
But there is further competition on the horizon.
On Monday, dominate search engine Google announced that Google Express, the online shop-and-ship service it has been testing for some months in parts of the US, is expanding to a further three cities. At a cost of $4.99 per delivery or flat subscription plans of $10 monthly/$95 monthly, same day delivery is available in partnership with retailers including Walgreens, Costco, Staples and Barnes & Noble.
Google‘s biggest rivalry comes, not from Yahoo! or Bing, but in fact Amazon.com, it was said this week. If the service continues to grow and eventually move overseas, this could prove a threat to the e-tailer whose closest option to same day home delivery is the free two day shipping available for Amazon Prime members.
