A recent study of American shoppers revealed that online shoppers from 20 years old into their mid-thirties expect to have same day shipping as an option when they make purchases online. While veterans of the e-commerce world probably are not surprised at these numbers, they do point to a large gap between what many online shoppers want and what giant, traditional retailers are used to. Online giants like Amazon have changed the playing field with expeditious picking and shipping of orders from a network of geographically placed warehouses, and next day small parcel shipping options. This is a major concern because less than 10% of the largest online retailers provide an option offer same-day delivery of product (companies like Teleflora), and less than half of large online retailers offer an option for next-day delivery – not even for an increased price. The underlying issue is that the infrastructure of many retailers is simply not agile enough to allow for large-scale same day picking and shipping of orders.
