London's Sainsbury Goes Same-Day Grocery Delivery to Compete With Amazon

It takes more than online sales to compete with Amazon and most retailers know it. Grocery store chain leader Sainsbury in the UK has concluded as well that a Same-Day Delivery option is key to meeting the service demand by today's shoppers. Amazon is doing it. Sainbury announces it is going to do it too.

Sainbury is rolling out its' own model of same-day grocery delivery service in over 30 areas in England by Christmas of this year. The grocery retailer currently does next-day delivery on all orders placed before 11pm, as long as a delivery slot is available. The new grocery service will provide grocery delivery to shoppers that order online by noon, which will be received by 6pm that day. To also meet its' customer service options, Sainsbury will have a pick-up option that will be ready to pick up from 4pm. Customers will have a variety of ways to get their online products into their hands.

The article discussed how Sainsbury will be charging up to £7 for its same-day grocery delivery services. Like Amazon, Sainsbury’s Delivery Pass membership costs between £30 and £60 a year. Shoppers can also pay no delivery fee for all orders over £40. Amazon had found the formula to thriving online by creating a loyal customer customer base via Prime, and Sainsbury seeks to do the same.

Sainsbury isn't the only grocery store retailers that is gearing up for the upcoming holiday season. The world's largest retailer Wal-Mart launched its' pilot program of same-day grocery deliveries in Denver, as well as another unidentified market last month. Wal-Mart partnered with Uber and Lyft ride-hailing services to perform the actual pick up and deliveries. If all goes well, Wal-Mart will probably expand the service. As the biggest shopping season approaches, it's critical to have same-day grocery delivery to have been proven, especially as retailers like Wal-Mart have same-day delivery of non-grocery items in their sights.

Wal-Mart also has made similar implementations with Sainsbury, as it has begun to offer its' new ShippingPass membership program. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. launched ShippingPass to keep pace with Amazon's Prime services. ShippingPass provides free shipping with two-day delivery for all members, which pay only $49 per year for memberships, in comparison to Amazon's for $99. Shoppers on WalMart.com will have access to online items such as electronics, clothing, health products, and more. The retailer has over 3,400 Supercenters throughout the US and has all the pieces necessary to easily perform last-mile deliveries.

Like Sainsbury, Wal-Mart plans to offer same-day delivery as well. As Amazon continues to expand it's own same-day delivery program, more and more retailers are implementing the service. A Same-Day Courier like A-1 Express can partner with retailers to help establish the delivery component of their web presence. The Phoenix Courier has hundreds of companies that it has provided optimal same-day delivery solutions for nationwide. Shoppers have become comfortable with online shopping and the retailer that can utilize same-day delivery to get products conveniently into their hands, will be the ones that compete against Amazon.

Reference: 7.21.16, www.dailymail.co.uk, Sean Poultner, Sainsbury's takes on Amazon with same-day delivery pledge