In another sign that the retail need for delivery speed is growing, FedEx Corp. has expanded its SameDay City delivery service to 30 U.S. markets encompassing 1,800 cities.
In March 2016, FedEx offered the service in more than 20 markets nationwide. The latest markets include San Diego, Riverside, and Sacramento, Calif.; Jacksonville and Orlando, Fla.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Austin and San Antonio, Texas. With SameDay City service, uniformed FedEx drivers in branded vehicles deliver packages and consumers and businesses can track package status on a map and access estimated arrival times with delivery alerts. Businesses can integrate with FedEx SameDay City web services via an application program interface, or API to use the shipping option.
SameDay City offers the following options:
- Priority service, which is available seven days a week, with pickup and delivery in as little as two hours. Prices range from $18 to $71.
- Standard service, which provides pickup and delivery in four hours from origin to destination, Monday through Friday. Prices range from $15 to $62.
- Economy service, which is delivery by end of day, Monday through Friday, with prices of $12 to $48.
- Route service, which is a custom, same-day service for regular pickups and deliveries at multiple locations.
For packages 51 pounds or more, FedEx charges by the pound across all service levels.
“Whether a customer made an online purchase for a special occasion, or a healthcare company needs to provide patients with critical medication and supplies, FedEx SameDay City can fulfill their need by delivering across multiple ZIP codes in a given market,” Brian Philips, CEO of FedEx Office, said Wednesday. “Continued market expansion allows FedEx SameDay City to deliver thousands of packages daily, for individuals, as well as big and small brands alike.”
FedEx is the shipping carrier for 318 retailers in the Internet Retailer 2017 Top 1000.
The expansion comes amid the constant push to get shoppers’ online orders delivered quickly and when they want them, and to meet retailers’ need to compete with Amazon’s massive fulfillment and delivery network.
Amazon Prime Now, which is the e-retailer’s free two-hour delivery service, is offered in about 40 markets. Prime Now is available on more than 25,000 products in such categories as household goods, groceries and gifts. It’s only for Prime customers, who typically pay $99 a year or $10.99 a month for such perks as free two-day shipping, streaming music and streaming video.
On Thursday, Bloomberg News reported that Amazon is testing a new delivery service intended to make more products available for free two-day delivery and to relieve overcrowding in its warehouses, by performing functions typically handled by FedEx and United Parcel Service Inc. such as picking up packages from its sellers.
It’s not just Amazon that FedEx and other shipping carriers compete against.
In August, same-day delivery service Deliv added 14 markets, bringing its total to 33 U.S. markets that include about 1,400 U.S. cities. Deliv handles deliveries for some 4,000 clients and lists 147 retailers on its website. The vendor contracts with drivers to handle its deliveries—many also drive for ridesharing services such as Lyft or Uber—and in cities such as New York and San Francisco also uses bicycle couriers and walkers.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (No. 3) plans to roll out free same-day delivery in the New York City area. The retailer this week announced it has bought Parcel, a company specializing in same-day deliveries of groceries and meal kits. “This acquisition allows us to continue testing ways to offer fast delivery while lowering our operating costs,” Nate Faust, senior vice president for the retailer’s e-commerce supply chain, said in a post on the company’s blog.
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