[eMarketer] Last-mile fulfillment is the latest priority for retailers

Retailers are revamping their last-mile fulfillment strategies in an effort to meet consumer demand for rapid delivery and compete effectively with Amazon.

In the past year, Walmart has added new delivery options, leveraged its stores as fulfillment centers, and built a tech platform to power its last-mile ecosystem, per a company blog post.

Lowe’s recently teamed up with Instacart to offer same-day delivery.

Walgreens and 7-Eleven recently announced partnerships with Shipt, Target’s same-day delivery service, per a company release.

Amazon has completely transformed consumers’ expectations for delivery: Not only do shoppers now expect free delivery, they also want it to be fast—an issue many retailers have struggled with, particularly in less densely populated areas.

According to eMarketer, with labor costs continuing to increase and competition for workers remaining fierce, retailers are looking to autonomous delivery technologies to help them with order fulfillment.

Alphabet’s drone unit is teaming up with one of Australia’s largest supermarket chains to provide delivery to customers in Canberra.

Walmart is also leveraging drones, as well as autonomous vehicles, to make deliveries quickly and keep items in stock.

Starship Technologies, which produces autonomous delivery robots used by grocers like Tesco and Save Mart, recently raised $42 million to expand its footprint, per TechCrunch.

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