Meeting the Growing Need for Same-day Delivery
Key Point: Online shopping exploded in 2020. The pandemic kept us home, and Amazon provided two-day delivery. Suddenly, ordering anything from a new pair of shoes to a hamburger and fries via computer seemed much easier and smarter than driving to the store and risking contact with COVID.
For the most part, Amazon held up under the onslaught of orders, and other retailers jumped on the delivery-to-your-door bandwagon. Now, though, consumers are demanding same-day delivery. Is it possible for businesses to step up to the plate and get the job done?
Senpex CEO Anar Mammadov cites some eye-opening statistics about the topic:
“The number of shoppers expecting same-day delivery nearly tripled in a year. While only 24% of shoppers placed same-day delivery orders in 2020, 68% say fast shipping was a deciding factor in their 2021 orders. To put this in perspective, in 2019, same-day delivery amounted to a $5.87 billion market in the U.S. By 2024, the market is estimated to be worth $15.6 billion.”
In this article, Mammadov discusses the challenges of scaling, how to integrate tools, and how to start scaling. This is a high-level view of the challenge, but certainly a thought and conversation starter.
Inventory Glut Leads an Amazon, Walmart Supplier to Cut Purchase Orders
Key Point: With inflation looming and monkeypox now joining COVID as a major public health concern, shoppers are cutting back on spending. And when consumers shop less often, retailers cut inventory — which means suppliers get fewer orders and workers get fewer hours. It’s a logical, domino-type progression that ripples through the economy quietly, like a sneaker wave that makes you run further up the shore in a hurry.
Supply Chain Dive’s concise coverage of how one company is handling the cutback in orders is an inside look at how a business can maintain health — even in the face of diminished demand.
Helen of Troy’s CEO put it like this:
“Now that we ourselves are reducing [inventory] and they’re reducing theirs, it’ll lead [to] an opportunity to re-normalize for both and it’ll be for the benefit of all over time. It’s just painful on the path from here to there.”
How far should a supplier cut back on inventory, though? Get the full scoop right here.
What Is Crowdsourced Delivery, and How Does it Work?
Key Point: We’ve heard of crowdsourcing money and discounts, but what is “crowdsourced delivery?” In a broad sense, the term refers to a B2B transaction in which the merchant hands the delivery function over to another business. Ordering from Taco Bell, for instance, and soon finding a Grubhub delivery driver at your door with your chili cheese burritos.
Earlier in this issue of NYCU Supply Chain, we referred to the rapid growth in demand for one-day delivery. Crowdsourcing is one of the ways a business can deliver on that demand. And Phoenix Logistics makes the case in this brief article.
E-commerce Becoming Daily Habit for Many [Infographic]
Key Point: If you like statistics, you’ll love this infographic from Freight Waves. Like a match made in heaven, e-commerce is proving the shopping method of choice for more and more consumers.
Which delivery method do Millennials prefer: curbside pickup or home delivery? (The answer may surprise you.) What percentage of shoppers place an online order each month? How many Americans now own a smart device (other than their phone)?
You can get those answers and more by clicking here and diving in.
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