Dive Brief:

• Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Best Buy are among major retailers expanding their same-day delivery reach through delivery company Deliv just ahead of the holiday season, according to multiple company press releases issued on Thursday.

• Macy’s, which charges $8 for same-day deliveries placed by 1 p.m., will add an additional 15 cities to its same-day delivery roster this fall, bringing it into a total of 33 markets. 

• Starting next week, Best Buy will expand same-day delivery from 13 to 27 markets, with a plan to reach 40 cities by the winter holidays using Deliv and one other third-party delivery company. Best Buy is also cutting its same-day delivery price from from $14.99 to $5.99 per order, which must be submitted by 3 p.m.

Dive Insight:

Same-day delivery is not a new concept for retailers — many including Macy’s have had such services available at a small scale for years. But as Amazon continues to cultivate consumer expectations for speedy fulfillment, the race is on for retailers to up their game. And that shows in these two announcements, both of which nearly double the reach of same-day delivery.

But catching up to Amazon is easier said than done. Thanks to services like Prime Now, available in 32 major cities, the e-commerce giant commands over half of online sales in 11 retail categories, according to data from Gordon Haskett Research Advisors. The e-commerce giant is also quickly expanding efforts for speedy delivery of alcohol, which is now available in 12 cities. All of that means omnichannel efforts, including last-mile delivery and pickup options, are becoming increasingly critical to every retailer's overall business strategy. 

During Macy’s second quarter earnings call, CEO Jeff Gennette acknowledged that omnichannel efforts, especially buy online/pickup in-store (BOPIS), is a key part of the company’s turnaround plan through the fall season. The retailer's omnichannel strategy includes ramping up in-store inventory to reflect what Macy’s offers for sale online, broader availability of a mobile app feature that lets customers see the inventory available in their local store called "Shop Your Store" and moving the location for pick up to a main store entrance.

"We are dedicated to ensuring that whenever, wherever and however our customer chooses to shop, their experience is seamless and convenient," Scott Prieto, executive vice president of Macy’s logistics and operations, wrote in a statement. "We’re excited that we can leverage the stores we have as fulfillment centers to power same-day delivery, closing the gap between customers and products for more of our shoppers just in time for the holidays."

Offering speedy delivery hasn’t been a strong suit among brick-and-mortar companies and many, like Best Buy and Macy’s are using third party providers like Deliv to outsource that expertise.

Other retailers, however, are acquiring those third-party providers and bringing that knowledge in-house. Earlier this month, Target acquired Grand Junction, a San Francisco-based transportation tech company (for an undisclosed amount) to improve and expand its own delivery capabilities. The investment was touted in a company blog post as part of an ongoing effort to transform its supply chain. Target also recently expanded a next-day delivery service of popular essentials from Minneapolis to the Dallas-Fort Worth and Denver areas.