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Can Retailers Offer Same Day Delivery?

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Get your packages ready for shipping at least 2 weeks before Christmas to avoid any delivery issues.
Get your packages ready for shipping at least 2 weeks before Christmas to avoid any delivery issues.
Same-Day Delivery Is A Boon

Shoppers both online and in stores have come to include the issue of delivery when it comes to holiday buying. They tend to look for the retailers who will assure that the gift and Santa arrive at about the same time. Or at least that Santa isn’t stymied when the goods haven’t arrived in time.

Responding to the concern, a number of large retailers now offer quick – often same-say – delivery. Among those that have joined the movement are Target, Amazon and Macy’s. Some shoppers, in fact, are willing to pay more to assure that their purchases are there when they need them.

With holiday shopping in full swing, retailers are going out of their way to accommodate customers. This is the season when the merchants make up to 40 percent of their year’s total in sales. Experts predict that Americans will spend up to $61 billion for online items before the year is out.

Fresh in their memories are the fiascoes that occurred last year when UPS and FedEx failed to get items to the purchaser, in part due to bad weather and overloads. Although it was a small part of the many season purchases that failed to meet holiday deadlines, it mattered to those whose gifts were caught in the mess.

Some oversight groups are concerned that despite the recognition of what happened last year, there could be delays again this holiday season. The delivery companies are now estimating what the demands will be, compared with spending estimates, according to ComScore, a research firm. They anticipate a 16 percent growth in spending this year.

The retailers are banking on earlier shopping to accommodate the added demand, with shipments spread over a longer period of time.

Amazon added more than 10 distribution centers and 15 smaller sorting centers that sort packages by ZIP code to facilitate the expected demand. The company also expanded its Sunday delivery service. Same-day delivery is available for a $5.99-per-order fee for members of the company’s Prime loyalty program, which was expanded from four cities to 12, most of them on the West and East coasts.

UPS officials say they expect to deliver 585 million packages this month, an 11 percent increase over last year. FedEx puts its expectations at 290 million packages, an 8.8 percent increase.

Google has joined the retailers offering delivery. The Google Shopping Service, which costs $10 a month for members or $4.99 per order, offers same-day shopping to customers of Costco, Toys R Us and other retailers in six metro areas. “eBay Now” also has been retooled from a stand-alone app to a payment method available on its site.

Although the merchants are stepping up to get merchandise where it needs to be in the most expeditious way, the onus still is on shoppers to allow themselves plenty of time. Shop early.

There’s A Rosy Glow About Retail Sales

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Rising Consumer Confidence Helps Retail Sales Industry
Rising Consumer Confidence Helps Retail Sales Industry
The latest government reports on retail buying and consumer confidence have a rosy glow about them. And with evidence of “solid economic growth” in the third quarter, it seems Americans are regaining some of the confidence they lost during the recent recession.

The August figures showed an 0.6 percent increase in retail purchases, following an 0.3 percent increase for the previous month, according to Commerce Department figures. In 11 of the 13 categories tracked by the department, there was improvement.

Michelle Girard, chief U.S. economist at RBS Securities Inc., Stamford, Connecticut, said, “Consumers are feeling better about the outlook for the economy, certainly, and that’s one of several factors that is supporting the better spending numbers.”

Contributing to the optimism is the improving job market, rising stocks and stabilizing home prices, along with a dip in fuel costs. Looking at the factors combined, experts are raising their forecasts for this quarter’s economic growth.

The Federal Reserve may raise interest rates sooner than was expected as the economy shows signs of returning vigor.

Consumer confidence is at the highest in more than a year, according to Thomson
Reuters/University of Michigan figures. The index for this month rose to 84.6, the highest since July 2013. A projection of expectations shows that more Americans are feeling more confident about the country’s economics than they expressed in the July 2013 surveys.

“The consumer is in decent shape right now,” said Gus Faucher, an economist with PNC Financial Services Group Inc. in Pittsburgh. “e are looking at solid economic growth in the third quarter.”

The annual back-to-school and back-to-college shopping sales appear to have validated the forecasts of improved sales, although they are still being analyzed.

Last month, some 142,000 workers were added to payrolls. Over the past six months, the increase in workers has totaled more than 1.4 million. The unemployment rate fell from 6.2 percent to 6.1 percent. But there has been no indication that wages or compensations has risen and that is a factor in government conversations about raising interest rates.

A mid-September meeting of leading federal economists was to look at the current figures and issue new forecasts for the interest rate, as well as projections for economic growth, unemployment and inflation.

Retailers In The Food and Beverage Industry Outrank Competitors

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Actual Sales Figures In Millions Of Dollars For Retailers
Actual Sales Figures In Millions Of Dollars For Retailers

Ever wonder what industries are bringing in the most sales? For retailers or people thinking about becoming a retailer, the census.gov website publishes these figures by industry. The latest report was released August 13, 2014. We have created an easy to read graph that shows which industries have made the most revenue in the last quarter.

The food and beverage industry comes out the winner. In the month of July, 2014, this incredible industry brought in $55,890,000,000. $55 billion dollars in sales makes the food and beverage industry the most lucrative of the group.

Other notable sales came from the health and clothing industries. Coming in second the health and personal care industry brought in $25,114,000,000 billion, almost half of what the food and beverage industry brought in. The clothing industry raked in $21,205,000,000.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) predicts a 4.1% increase in retail sales for 2014. NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay, said, “Measured improvements in economic growth combined with positive expectations for continued consumer spending will put the retail industry in a relatively good place in 2014.” Kathy Grannis, writer for nrf.com says, “Contributing $2.5 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy.”

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