Can Same-Day Service Save the Day? Not So Fast… - The Smart Van
Customers today expect a level of immediacy, and for many field service companies, that’s meant a race to narrow service appointment times. The latest tactic? Same-day delivery service.
Wal-Mart, for instance, is testing same-day deliveries using UPS service. Customers need to place orders by noon in order to qualify for the same-day shipping — and even earlier on the West Coast. The key is that each store becomes its own miniature distribution hub. The back-end supply-chain and infrastructure are also shrunken down to the local level. An order comes in online, is routed to the store level, where a warehouse person pulls it off the shelf and packs it up. The deliveries are loaded onto UPS trucks and integrated into their daily routes.
The deliveries are being sent out directly from the stores, which act as miniature distribution centers, rather than relying on a single, giant warehouse. All same-day orders have a flat, $10 rate.
Customers today expect a level of immediacy, and for many field service companies, that’s meant a race to narrow service appointment times. The latest tactic? Same-day delivery service.
Wal-Mart, for instance, is testing same-day deliveries using UPS service. Customers need to place orders by noon in order to qualify for the same-day shipping — and even earlier on the West Coast. The key is that each store becomes its own miniature distribution hub. The back-end supply-chain and infrastructure are also shrunken down to the local level. An order comes in online, is routed to the store level, where a warehouse person pulls it off the shelf and packs it up. The deliveries are loaded onto UPS trucks and integrated into their daily routes.
The deliveries are being sent out directly from the stores, which act as miniature distribution centers, rather than relying on a single, giant warehouse. All same-day orders have a flat, $10 rate.
