I’m pretty sure you have heard all the hoopla and hype surrounding the same-day delivery models being presented by Amazon, Wal-mart eBay and other retailers. There is one reality of which I’m most certain though: Unless these retailers can ship their items in an electronic format, their efforts (while being noteworthy) will fail. “Well, how can this be?” You might be wondering. “Didn’t the experts say online shopping is going to wipe out brick and mortar stores?” Oh yes, of course the experts did say so! Guess what? Experts said the same thing about Kozmo.com too! By now we all know what happened to Kozmo.com so make no mistake about what will happen this around: All these new companies will meet a fate similar to that of their predecessor in their same-day endeavors as well.
There are many reasons the same-day models will fail but I’ll just list three and expound on them. They are as follows:
1. Online Limitations.
2. Courier Payment.
3. The Human Factor.
Online Limitations
The same-day delivery pundits have bet heavily that online-shopping will become the dominant shopping choice. Unfortunately, while shopping online may seem convenient, there is a lot of information missing from the pictures on your computer screen. For simplicity and clarity, I’m not even going to mention deliveries of large, heavy household goods as these present many more difficult challenges. I’m just going to discuss delivery of small, light items here. Okay, let’s say for example, you order something as simple as a pair of shoes online. Can you guarantee they will be the correct fit? Are they comfortable? What about clothes? Will that suit fit correctly? How about that dress? Why is it too big, even though the label says your size? As you may be aware, not all brands fit the same. Therefore, just because you might wear a size eight in one brand doesn’t mean another brand’s size eight will fit you the same. Online shopping also did not give you the option to try any of these items before you made your purchase.
How about fresh fruits and vegetables? Will they choose these to your liking? What if some are squashed or bruised? Can you return the bad ones? How will these companies deal with such returns? Will you have to pay for another delivery, or will they credit some money to your account? The list goes on and on. I could ask questions all day long for which I’m sure I would not get a proper response, but you get the idea; don’t you? All you have to do is realize this simple truth: Regardless of how beautiful the picture on your computer screen looks, if the physical product is unsatisfactory, you will be dissatisfied.
Courier Payment
Even though you may be charged a delivery fee of $10, the courier company will have to be paid more (some are currently receiving $12.50) to provide their services. Moreover, while you will not be charged extra fees, couriers will also be paid more for extra mileage as well. If all these extra fees are not being paid by you; who pays them? The retailers do. These same-day retailers have gambled to absorb these expenses as they hope large volume of purchases will minimize the effect of delivery costs. This will never happen because every courier has to ensure the route for each day is profitable. One or two deliveries will not be profitable for the couriers. Therefore, if there are not enough items on the truck, it will not be driven from the warehouse, and your same-day delivery may become a “next day delivery.”
It all comes down to dollars and cents. No business can survive if its expenses are greater than its profits. Just consider this fact for one minute: If a business operates on a loss of just one cent per day, its life is finite. One day it’s simply not going to have money to keep its operations going. This is the kind of game kozmo.com played before and lost. Nothing about the physical aspects of home deliveries from the last century has changed today. Until these physical barriers are overcome, the same-day outfits today will fare the same as those of yesteryear.
Human Traits and Psyche
Some marketers do promotions without paying enough attention to the fundamentally important reality that we are all creatures of habit. As humans our natural tendency is to socialize with others. From even as far back to the time when humans were cave dwellers, we lived in groups. Whether it was necessary for our survival from the elements or other animals, that’s just how it was. Thousands of years later, even though we’ve become more civilized and created modern housing and shopping options, all their designs have been focused on this basic trait of human socialization.
For example, houses are built with “living rooms” to entertain others; classrooms are designed as open spaces; and shopping malls are created with “free flowing” spaces which make it easy for people to interact with each other. While admittedly, there are a few “loners” among us, most of us crave the need to be around other Human Beings. It is this need for human interaction which dictates what we engage in, or not. Most people who utilize social media a lot, also ultimately need the physical company of others either consciously or subconsciously. That’s why they go on vacations, dine out, and go out shopping.
The success of the same-day delivery models being proposed will require people not to act human anymore. We will no longer “hang out” in malls or go out to dinner, but will simply order everything possible from our internet device. Stop and think about this for a minute: Can you imagine living in a world without interacting with another person? Can you be anything but human? Absolutely not! Regardless of how much money you may have or the prominent position you hold in society, you are human first and foremost. Subsequently, we all will act as humans by socializing and interacting with each other in a physical manner. This means we will always look forward to the experience of going out to shop, dine or watch a movie; around other people. Who wants to stay home all the time as the same-day pundits would want us to do? I’m sure only a very few of the “loners” out there look forward to such an existence.
As usual, I hope this has been helpful. Thanks for taking the time to read it. For more information you can contact us at www.homedeliveryadvisors.com
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- Yuppies Might Be the Only Market for Same-Day Delivery (wired.com)
- Is this Kozmo 2.0? Postmates brings its ‘Get It Now’ courier service to Seattle (geekwire.com)
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