Amazon, in War With Walmart, Touts One-Day Delivery Gains
03 June 2019 - 10:29PM
Dow Jones News
By Sebastian Herrera
The next-day delivery war is well under way.
Amazon.com Inc. on Monday said it has made more than 10 million
products available for free one-day delivery to Prime members in
the U.S., the latest salvo in a battle over speedier shipping
speeds with rival Walmart Inc.
The e-commerce giant is touting the arbitrary milestone about
three weeks after Walmart announced it would begin offering free
next-day delivery shipping on about 200,000 products for shoppers
on some orders in a handful of cities. The two rivals have been
one-upping each other with announcements of faster shipping options
as they seek to cater to ever-demanding online shoppers.
Amazon is vague about its plans for free one-day Prime delivery.
It didn't specify which markets the shipping option is available
in, only saying it spans "coast to coast." It also wouldn't say
when it expects to fully roll out the option to its more than 100
million Prime members.
The products available include some best-selling items such as
beauty products, cleaning supplies and beach towels, Amazon said.
Ten million products represents a fraction of the more than 100
million items available for free two-day delivery to Prime members.
Amazon spokeswoman Julie Law said Amazon is seeking the same kind
of growth for next-day delivery.
Amazon has also long offered one-day shipping on limited items
and free same-day delivery on some orders over $35. It also
fulfills same-day orders through its Prime Now operation.
The new next-day option doesn't require a minimum purchase for
Prime members. Amazon said it has widely expanded the offering
since late April when it announced it would invest $800 million
into making the next-day option the standard for Prime
customers.
The day after that announcement, Walmart answered with a pointed
tweet: "One-day free shipping...without a membership fee. Now THAT
would be groundbreaking. Stay tuned." Amazon's Prime membership
costs $119 a year.
In mid-May, Walmart said it began offering free next-day
delivery in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Southern California, but only
for orders costing $35 or more. It said it would expand the option
to 40 of the top 50 U.S. metro areas later this year.
Walmart started offering free two-day shipping for orders of at
least $35 two years ago, after the retailer scrapped a $49-a-year
rival to Prime dubbed ShippingPass. The company's digital sales,
while still a fraction of its overall total revenue, are growing
fast. In the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, its U.S. e-commerce sales
grew 40% to $15.7 billion.
Walmart's big-box competitor, Target Corp., offers free one-day
shipping on some orders of at least $35 to its no-fee loyalty
REDcard holders. It has also worked to expand same-day delivery
through its unit Shipt.
"We don't put a lot of time and energy or focus into competitors
because it can be distracting to being innovative for customers,"
Amazon's Ms. Law said. "We believe what we are offering to Prime
members today is unmatched."
While Amazon has big goals for delivery, some shoppers have
complained that the company doesn't always fulfill orders in the
timeline it gives online.
Amazon has customer service lines dedicated to ensuring delivery
is made when promised, Ms. Law said. "Our delivery promise date is
not something we take lightly," she said.
Write to Sebastian Herrera at sebastian.herrera@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 03, 2019 08:14 ET (12:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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