Nate Skiver’s Post

🔵 Walmart fires back at Amazon in fast delivery race. ⚡ The retailer delivered 4.4 billion items over the past 12 months with either same-day or next-day speeds. The retailer delivered about 20% of those goods in under three hours. Read all the detail here... https://ow.ly/VFng50RPCc9 #walmart #amazon #delivery #orderfulfillment #ecommerce #retailnews

First, it was Amazon, now it's Walmart. I'm certain that other big-box retailers will follow suit, especially with the uplift in orders Walmart saw when improving transit times. It'll be more and more difficult for non-big-box retailers to compete in a market with consumers trained to expect next-day (or same-day) delivery. It begs the question: Why don't more retailers experiment with the impact of transit times on their customer experience? Here's my take: 1. It's hard to test. It requires either big volume or lots of time. For small shippers, testing enough volume to achieve statistical significance can be a long, painstaking process.  If you do have the volume, you have to isolate your variables (fulfillment time, existing order rate, etc) to make sure your data is clean. Once you run your test and find that improving time in transit does make a difference, you have another problem. 2. It's expensive. Without Amazon's deep pockets or Walmart's massive physical footprint, margins are often already too tight to upgrade everyone to next-day shipping.  3. Implementation is complex. It's unlikely that you can simply choose a more expensive service with your existing carrier and call it a day. You'll likely need to look at network fulfillment centers, zone-skipping, and specialty carriers to decrease your implementation cost. Once that's done, warehousing and shipping operations are far more complex. The bottom line is that consumers are malleable, and the big boys are training them to think everything should be delivered NOW. And it's a smart tactic since competing on that is extremely difficult for anyone other than the biggest, most scaled businesses. #walmart #amazon #ecommerce https://lnkd.in/gvrYpEMH

Walmart has pulled ahead of Amazon in fast delivery. [sort of] Items delivered same or next day -Walmart: 4.4B (last 12 mos) -Amazon: 4B (2023) But Amazon Q1 = 2B So its run rate clearly keeps Amazon in the lead. But regardless of … … the unit count … the measurement period … which retailer is leading fast delivery US ecommerce delivery speed is accelerating. As are customer expectations. Amazon and Walmart are lapping the competition. By delivering faster AND reducing unit delivery costs. [and taking market share] Competing with these giants in the same way is pointless. But instead of doing nothing, retailers can be intentional with ecommerce delivery, and: 1. Personalize the delivery experience 2. Provide simply stated shipping options 3. Provide a clear EDD 4. Be obsessive about meeting customer promise date 5. Optimize parcel carriers/services/costs ----- AMZN+WLMT = 8B+ units delivered same/next day Retailers can’t compete with them on delivery speed. But retailers can be intentional with ecommerce delivery. And provide their best possible customer experience. #retailing #logistics #ecommerce

I came across this article today which includes a standout talking point: "[Amazon] said on Monday that nearly 60% of orders placed through Prime in the top 60 U.S. metro areas in the first quarter arrived the same or next day. That is up from roughly 50% in the second quarter of 2023." Last fall, I gave a webinar which highlighted the reasons for this trend, the consumer's top 2 factors for where they buy a product are price and convenience. While Amazon has always been price competitive, they're now using convenience to break into new markets. The shampoo you ran out of (and need for tomorrow) can't wait two days. The party supplies for your BBQ this weekend have always been easier to grab at the store... until now. More and more I find myself taking advantage of these services, putting less business through the brick and mortar retailers in my town. I wonder... how will these retailers adapt and plan for increased competition?

🛍️ No competing with Amazon's delivery speed? Offer BOPIS (Buy Online, Pickup In-Store). BOPIS cuts wait times, slashes shipping costs, & boosts store visits. ▶️ https://buff.ly/3Sxj7Sn #retailtrends #retailing #retailmarketing #programmaticadvertising #digitalretail

Amazon's threat is real and imminent. With two new distribution centers planned by 2026 and an expanding Prime delivery network, retailers must innovate around customer needs or risk falling behind. Retailers need real-time delivery and personalised customer experiences across the whole customer journey. In my article with Retailbiz I outline the impact of recent legislative changes on Amazon's delivery network in Australia: https://lnkd.in/gmyWtypK #Amazon #Commerce #Innovation #CustomerNeeds

“I didn’t know Amazon sold items that weren’t Prime?!” From a recent conversation. It says a lot about the influence Prime has on delivery expectations. Conscious … and apparently unconscious. That Prime toggle switch is powerful. You don’t think about when the order will deliver. You just swipe. You just “know” it will be fast. But what about retailers who aren’t Amazon? [… or Walmart, Target] Most retailers can’t reach “unconscious” awareness of fast delivery. But brands don’t need to do this to use delivery to engage and convert customers. In fact, too many brands provide a delivery experience that is also unconscious. As in out of sight out of mind, until checkout. Personalized delivery dates on the PDP are scarce. Save for some of the top ecommerce companies. Or small digital brands. [low fulfillment and delivery complexity] But what about everyone else? ----- Amazon has made fast delivery an unconscious part of the customer purchasing experience. It’s time for more retailers to make delivery a conscious part of the customer experience. #ecommerce #retailing #deliveryexperience #logistics

🤓 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐯𝐬. 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐨𝐧 🔹A new report shows Walmart's eCommerce customers outspend Amazon's, with Walmart+ members spending $2,200 annually versus Amazon Prime's $1,100. Walmart excels in online grocery sales and curbside pickup. 🔹Although Amazon leads in overall online shopping with 180 million Prime members and $231 billion in net sales, Walmart's strategic investments in Walmart+ and other services are gaining market share. 🔹Both companies enhance their subscription services to attract affluent shoppers and boost spending. ⬇️ Tap the link to read more about this update! ✨ https://buff.ly/3R2YLR2 #amazon #sellercentral #amazonseller #amazonsellers #amazonfba #amazonbusiness #VendorCentral #amazonnews #dailyamazonnews

Amazon recently announced that it has hit a new record for speedy Prime deliveries in 2024, with over five billion items delivered the same or next day globally—a whopping 30% increase from last year. This incredible feat was made possible by regionalizing its fulfillment network and using advanced machine learning to predict demand and optimize inventory. While Amazon’s delivery speeds set a high bar, there are plenty of ways other e-commerce companies can stay competitive. We share a few of them in our most recent insights article. ( 🔗 in comments) #amazon #prime #ecommerce #customerexperience

🚀 Let the competition continue! Walmart's same-day and next-day delivery volume has seen impressive growth over the past year, rivalling Amazon's achievements. For 2023, Amazon reported delivering over 4 billion U.S. units either the same day or the following. According to Juozas Kaziukėnas, founder and CEO of Marketplace Pulse, there was a difference between the approaches: “Walmart uses stores, and store delivery is practically all of their same-day deliveries; Amazon doesn’t have stores, so it is optimizing its fulfilment network." 🌏 As I also discovered, Walmart has developed last-mile efficiency by adding parcel stations to its stores. As Walmart CEO Doug McMillon stated, “Delivery times are getting faster, and the cost of delivery is coming down at the same time.” What are your predictions for such a situation? Visit Inforce website blog to compare your views to ours! https://lnkd.in/digc4Cpw