Same day delivery. Is it really important?

It’s a fact of retail life that consumers have demands. In fact, they have many of them, and not all of them are easy to fulfil. From faster delivery, to constant and accurate tracking services, ensuring that the customer remains happy is a feat that businesses will always be fighting to fulfil. The question, however, is whether or not companies, whether direct retailers or their freight forwarders, can actually keep up with the seemingly unrealistic demands that their audience are throwing at them. Same day delivery is one such demand, and while some retailers are offering this service already, we’re exploring whether it’s truly a viable option for the future.

Demand

Demand is everything when it comes to business. After all, most businesses wouldn’t even have a business were it not for a demand for the service or product that they offer. Even freight forwarders would find themselves out of work if there wasn’t someone, somewhere, looking to ship. However, while a regular level of demand is understandable and healthy, some demands do tend to take things a step too far – but is same day delivery too far? Is there even a demand for such a service?
A GlobalData survey doesn’t seem to think so. Well, sort of.
According to the survey, 28% of people in the UK had never used same day delivery before, but had intentions to in the future, while 28.9% had no intention of ever using it at any point. 77.8% aren’t willing to pay for this service either, which could mean that businesses that offered this service would struggle to make back the money it would take to offer the service in the first place.

Why Wouldn’t It Work?

Again, the cost alone could be the biggest downfall that businesses offer. Industry leaders like Amazon or eBay often have the funds and customer base to cover the cost associated with this delivery service, but smaller retailers or those with far less warehouses could simply find it impossible. Trucks can only drive so far, and planes can only carry so much, so sheer time and monetary constraints could mean that some companies just don’t have the resources available to get something delivered in a day.
If you live within a city, you’re more likely to be able to choose this service, however anyone outside of a certain radius of their warehouses will find themselves exempt from the option, payment or not.
In short, same day delivery is something that is certainly nice to have, but often the costs for both the consumer and company can mean it’s not worth the organisation. Whether this will change in the future with advances in technology has yet to be seen, but for now, it looks like next day delivery will have to suffice and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.
If you’d like a quote for our next day delivery service, or for any other UK or international delivery, fill in our quote form today.