eCommerce: Top Shipment Trends

Same-Day Delivery in the U.S.: Key Insights

• Top 10 U.S. Online Stores: Nine out of the top 10 online stores in the United States offer same-day delivery of their products in metropolitan areas. This rate emphasizes the relevance of super-fast delivery for a successful eCommerce business model.

• Amazon Introduced the Trend: Amazon is the first eCommerce retailer to have successfully introduced same-day delivery. Other major U.S. retailers mostly followed in 2017.

• Partnerships Become More Common: It is not necessary to launch an own delivery branch or acquire a service: An increasing number of eCommerce stores partner up with external providers like Instacart or Uber Eats.

Same-day delivery reflects the immense progress of eCommerce and the logistics capabilities of the modern age. The United States is an exemplary market for same-day delivery, not least because of the influence of its home-grown eCommerce platform Amazon. 

Find out what percentage of the top 10 U.S. eCommerce stores offer same-day delivery and how common same-day delivery is.

What Is Same-Day Delivery?

Same-day shipping means that customers receive their delivery on the same calendar day they place their order. Because same-day delivery focuses on immediacy rather than the efficiency of scheduling shared transportation routes to pick up multiple orders, it means that parcels are delivered directly to the sender. As a result, this type of delivery is more expensive and typically only available in metropolitan areas. 

In addition, there are differences in the definition of “same day” that vary depending on the time of day the orders are placed. For example, if a customer places an order late in the evening, "same day" would mean 24 hours.

Top 10 U.S. Online Stores: Almost All Offer Same-Day Delivery

Same-day delivery is very common among the top 10 eCommerce stores in the U.S.:

Below is a more detailed representation of the top 5 online stores that offer this service.

1. Amazon

Amazon launched its same-day delivery service in 2009, making it the first eCommerce retailer to do so successfully. The word “successfully” is important, as attempts to do so have been made as far back as 1998, but have proven to be unprofitable.

With its extensive network of fulfillment centers, Amazon has grown its package volume over the years:

• From an annual package volume of about 60 million in 2015, Amazon Logistics delivered 100 million in 2016. 

• Amazon’s U.S. package volume grew steadily in the years that followed. In 2019, it delivered 2 billion packages. 

• As expected, the pandemic fueled Amazon’s growth, as evidenced by the explosive increase in its parcel volume. In 2020, it grew by 115% over the previous year, representing 4.3 billion packages in the U.S. alone. 

• The following years saw further increases. Although these were rather slow, Amazon Logistics’ parcel volume remained at a consistently higher level ever since the pandemic, reaching new heights in 2023, when it approached 6 billion packages.

While sources indicate that Amazon’s same-day delivery service gained widespread recognition around 2016, it is not clear from the data what exact impact the service had on order numbers. Today, Amazon says that almost 60% of Prime orders in U.S. metropolitan areas are same-day or next-day deliveries. 

What is clear, however, is that Amazon’s impact on other retailers is immense: the next stores to follow Amazon’s lead in U.S. eCommerce have jumped on the same-day shipping bandwagon.

2. Walmart

Walmart is arguably Amazon’s biggest competitor in the U.S.: Walmart enjoys its position as an established offline hypermarket with a high level of recognition in the U.S. market for decades. Its eCommerce business was launched as more of an adjunct to its core business. 

Nonetheless, the overall push for faster delivery speed and more consumer convenience has led Walmart to implement same-day delivery services. It started with the acquisition of same-day delivery startups like Parcel and Deliv in 2017. Since 2020, walmart.com offers what it calls Express Delivery, which drops off packages within a 2-hour time frame. While the company itself says that this move was not due to Amazon, it is quite obvious that faster delivery is a competitive advantage which consumers do expect to some degree. 

A recent survey of U.S. online shoppers shows that next-day delivery and same-day delivery are quite important:

While price and easy returns take the lead, 36% of U.S. consumers value delivery on the next day and 30% say they appreciate delivery on the same day. 

As a result, the top U.S. stores are competing to offer the most convenient service:

3. Apple

Apple is a household name in the industry, and its premium products are in high demand. Not only does the electronics company provide products suitable for leisure, but its tech gadgets are also popular in a professional context. Whatever the occasion may be, sometimes the new product needs to arrive quick: Apple began offering same-day delivery in select metro areas in the U.S. back in 2015. 

Today, the service is more widespread and the pool of affiliated delivery companies is larger (including the likes of UberEats and Instacart). However, according to customer testimonials posted online, its real-world application has been plagued by problems with order fulfillment and reliable package delivery. This once again emphasizes the challenging nature of logistics processing when it comes to same-day delivery services.

4. Home Depot

Home Depot is the fourth largest online store in the U.S. with 2023 online revenues of US$65 billion. To solidify its position, Home Depot recently announced a partnership with popular delivery service Instacart to provide customers with their DIY needs at a moment’s notice. 

Granted, Home Depot is not the first home improvement retailer to go this route, its competitor, Lowe’s, introduced its same-day delivery feature before Home Depot. Regardless of who came first, the immediacy strategy is something new for the home improvement industry, which has been grasping at straws to maintain pandemic online sales after customers were able to shop in physical stores again. 

Leveraging the convenience aspect in this way can help its eCommerce branches stay relevant and helpful in a competitive environment where low-cost eCommerce marketplaces like Temu threaten to supplement the offerings of domestic retailers.

5. Target

Speaking of Temu, check out the competition for website visitors that takes place between Temu and Target:

• Since January 2023, just 4 months after Temu’s launch, it already surpassed Target traffic numbers. 

• Up to July 2023, Temu exceeds Target’s number of visitors consistently. Temu had 90.5 million visitors in that month, Target had around 60 million.

Target’s acquisition of delivery service Shipt in 2017, which came on the heels of Walmart's similar acquisitions that year, gave the retailer an early entry into the same-day delivery frenzy. 

While the competition to be the fastest delivery service gained momentum during the pandemic, 2024 has seen another surge of new services: These include a subscription for free delivery on grocery orders over a fixed price, and ever-faster delivery fulfillment.

Top U.S. Same-Day Delivery Services: Bottom Ranks

Almost all of the remaining online stores in the U.S. top 10 offer same-day delivery, with the exception of Shein. Because Shein does not have a logistics network in the U.S. and ships its products from manufacturing centers in Asia, it cannot offer same-day delivery. 

The others, however, do:

• Bestbuy.com: 2017 was the year for same-day delivery from leading U.S. retailers – in addition to Walmart and Target, Bestbuy launched its same-day delivery service in the same year. 

• Chewy.com: Pet products are also eligible for same-day delivery, thanks to Chewy’s cooperation with Instacart. Its direct competitors PetSmart and Petco have joined the pool of superfast providers. 

• Costco.com: Among the number of generalist retailers with a same-day option is Costco, which also launched the service in 2017. 

• Samsclub.com: Since 2018, Sam’s Club provides delivery on the same day of placing the order through its affiliation with Instacart.

As evidenced by the top 10 U.S. eCommerce retailers, instant delivery does not require an elaborate logistics network. All it takes is a partnership or subsidiary relationship with a delivery service provider to join the ranks of those who meet customer demand for same-day delivery. In the U.S., the most common partner for this purpose is Instacart, followed by Shipt and UberEats.

Why Same-Day Delivery is Handy for Consumers

The demand for convenience and speed is at an all-time high. Same-day delivery services have become an important factor in eCommerce. Here are 3 reasons why:

1. Meeting Consumer Expectations: Today's consumers expect fast service. Same-day delivery saves time that consumers can use for other things.

2. Competitive Advantage: Offering same-day delivery can set a business apart from its competitors and become a feature that persuades consumers to buy a product.

3. Immediate Gratification: Consumers often seek instant gratification. Same-day delivery provides the immediate fulfillment of needs and desires, making shopping experiences more enjoyable.

What Are Rapid and Same-Day Delivery?

Are you hungry? Nothing to eat at home? Order in. We all know this sequence. Rapid delivery refers to the fast fulfilment of an order shortly after it is placed. Deliveroo is a prime example of a well-known fast delivery service.

Same-day delivery, on the other hand, means that an order is delivered on the same day as it is placed, although the exact delivery time may vary. This service is usually offered alongside other delivery options and is often more expensive. Amazon is a prominent example of a company that offers same-day delivery for its products.

Same-Day Delivery: Final Remarks

The market shows that same-day delivery is highly prevalent among the top 10 online stores in the U.S. 9 out of the top 10 offer same-day delivery, either through their own logistics branch or through affiliations with delivery services. 

Without a doubt, Amazon serves as a role model for retailers in the game. But at the latest when direct competitors offer the service, others immediately join the fray. Because consumers, especially in large cities, tend to demand same-day delivery, or at least see it as a valuable commodity, retailers that offer it have an advantage. 

As time passes, superspeed delivery is certainly becoming more common. This is in no small part due to technological innovations that are improving the service, with drone deliveries already being implemented by the largest eCommerce players in the game.

Sources: CBS – CNBC – Digitalcommerce360 – OPSDesign – Pitney Bowes – Retailbrew – Tech Crunch - UrbanismNext