Same day delivery is obviously where it’s at. Amazon recently expanded its Prime Shipping option to include $5.99 same day delivery options. Google teamed up with Costco, Target, and Barnes & Noble to roll out its Shopping Express service. And now Uber, a transportation provider, has rolled out same-day delivery for basic items in the Washington DC area.
What makes this evolution compelling is how only one of these services started in retail: Amazon. Google was a web services company, albeit one which wisely teamed up with challenged brick-and-mortars to compete with Amazon. Uber is still principally a transportation facilitator, but now has a clever way to use its drivers’ excess time and capacity. It certainly isn’t a threat to drugstore.com, or even FedEx (yet), but the ability to see your delivery en route is pretty darn compelling.
Silicon Spatula 