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Same-day delivery...the wave of the future

Is same-day delivery possible? Actually, if I could get my groceries delivered to my kitchen table (I HATE to shop), next day sounds fine to me. The evidence is growing, however, that for the "igeneration," now isn't soon enough. This article from CNet discusses the new, immediate-delivery companies Kozmo, UrbanFetch.com and Pink Dot.com, as well as the e-grocers Webvan and HomeGrocer.com. The article's implication is that online grocers will be the ones who first reach the epitome of customer service--same-day delivery--on a nationwide basis. Beg your pardon? Currently, Webvan "regularly requires customers to wait several days before receiving their groceries, and Pink Dot.com "acknowledges that prices on some items may be slightly higher than physical stores." I'll grant you that using low-cost warehousing space certainly lowers overhead, but how can this distribution expectation ever be profitable? Can e-merchants ever make same-day delivery the norm? We're going to have to do it, so we better start preparing now.

Tue, 16 Nov 1999 13:35:03 -0800