The Amazon Effect: Best Buy Adds Same Day Delivery in San Francisco, Others To Follow

Since everyone is playing follow the leader on delivery, making it a sustainable competitive advantage is difficult.

The cost and logistical challenges may drive some out of business because consumers will expect the offer as a matter of course.

The question is what the next frontier on customer demand will be: telepathic ordering and delivery? JL

Jason Del Rey reports in re/code:

Deliv, and a host of competitors, looking to capitalize on Amazon’s onslaught and become an ally for Amazon competitors has emerged as the favorite delivery partner of many big-box retailers, with Best Buy joining a list of clients that already includes Kohl’s, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Foot Locker.
Same-day delivery appears to be here to stay and Best Buy is the latest to jump on the trend.
The big-box electronics retailer recently added the option as a test in San Francisco and towns and cities between that city and San Jose as it looks to keep up with Amazon’s furious rollout of speedy delivery options in the U.S. Best Buy is working with Deliv, a delivery startup that runs a network of contractor drivers, to handle the deliveries on its behalf.
Best Buy’s entrance into the fray comes as Amazon is applying even more pressure to brick-and-mortar retailers by adding same-day and even one-hour deliveries in metro areas around the country. Amazon now offers members of its Prime shipping program same-day delivery of more than a million products in 16 metro areas for no extra fee. Amazon’s Prime Now service also offers one-hour delivery for a $7.99 fee on a smaller catalogue of goods in more than a dozen American cities, and two-hour delivery for no extra charge.
Best Buy’s same-day option will carry the same fee as its express shipping option, which varies in price and usually gets orders to customers in one business day. The test is seen by Best Buy as a way to gauge interest in a complementary option to in-store pickup, which the company says is a popular option for its online customers.
While Amazon has been laying the groundwork for these initiatives for years, several big retailers appear to have been caught flat-footed because Amazon is rolling out the service ahead of widespread demand. Enter Deliv, and a host of competitors, looking to capitalize on Amazon’s onslaught and become an ally for Amazon competitors. Deliv has emerged as the favorite delivery partner of many big-box retailers, with Best Buy joining a list of clients that already includes Kohl’s, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Foot Locker.