The retail giant Macy’s recently expanded its same-day delivery program, making the service now available in a total of 17 cities. This recent expansion follows the success of Macy’s same-day delivery service that has already been in place in eight major cities.  Macy’s delivery services will also be available at Bloomingdales in select locations. Macy’s same-day delivery service is powered by the same-day delivery startup Deliv, who have also expanded their Returns service following success with Macy’s.

Macy’s new expansion puts it on top of the same-day delivery service, surpassing online retailer Amazon whose delivery service is currently available in 14 cities.  Macy’s has an advantage over this online retailer due to Macy’s having over 900 locations across the U.S that can be used as “mini-distribution centers.” By contrast, Amazon “only has 50 fulfillment centers in the States.” Macy’s, having a variety of locations across the United States has helped the retailer cut down on shipping costs and delivery timeframes.

Macy’s is offering these services at a $5 per delivery markup, but the company has not shown that it is willing to forgo profits.  Companies are facing an increasing amount of pressure from regulators in multiple states and the federal government to compensate their delivery service workers as “employees and not contractors”. These changes would increase the cost of delivery and eventually increase the cost that consumers would have to pay.

The question is how long will Macy’s be able to keep just a $5 delivery markup, or keep same-day delivery at a price that is attractive to customers?

To find out more information such as which cities this service is available in, check out the original article:

http://www.retaildive.com/news/macys-expands-same-day-delivery-to-challenge-amazon/403395/