Delivery wars heat up as two more retailers expand same-day services

Best Buy and Macy’s are stepping up their same-day delivery efforts as they continue to bolster their defenses to compete with Amazon and other rivals.



Best Buy announced on Thursday it is expanding its same-day delivery of online orders from 13 metro areas to 27, with more to come. The retailer expects that customers in nearly 40 cities will be able to take advantage of service for the holiday selling season.



In addition, Best Buy is slashing the fee for the service, dropping the price per order from $14.99 to $5.99. Also, more products are being made eligible for the service.



The retailer said its same-day deliveries will be handled by two companies that use a crowdsourced labor model, including our original partner, Deliv.



Also on Thursday, Macy's announced that, starting this fall, it is expanding its same-day delivery of products purchased online to 15 more markets across the United States, which will bring the program to a total of 33 markets. Bloomingdale’s will expand into two additional markets.



The fee for same-day delivery service is $8 for all online purchases that meet Macy’s ($99) or Bloomingdale’s ($150) free shipping thresholds, and $8 plus standard shipping costs for anything less. Macy’s same-day delivery program is done in collaboration with Deliv.



Best Buy began testing same-day delivery in the Bay Area in late 2015, and expanded it to Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington, D.C., in 2016. Beginning Sept. 6, same-day delivery will expand to the following cities: Austin, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Columbus, Denver, Kansas City, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Orlando, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego and Tampa.



Macy’s launched its same-day delivery service in 2014. It is currently available in the following markets: Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Houston; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Miami; New Jersey; NYC Metro (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Yonkers); Orange County, California; Philadelphia; San Francisco; Seattle, and Washington, D.C.



The new markets being added are: Austin, Texas; Charlotte, N.C.; Cincinnati; Columbus, Ohio; Denver; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Kansas City, Mo.; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix; Pittsburgh; Sacramento, Calif.; San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, Calif; and Tampa, Fla. Bloomingdale’s will expand into two additional markets: Orlando, Fla., and San Diego, Calif.