Speedy Delivery: The High Street Comeback

For hundreds of years, sailors suffered from a mysterious ‘disease’.

The symptoms: bleeding gums, followed by hemorrhaging and death. It routinely decimated crews on long-distance voyages.

In fact, it wasn’t a disease: it was scurvy. A simple vitamin C deficiency. By the early 1600s, some English naval officers found that drinking citrus juice could prevent and cure this terrible condition.

The good news was reported to the admiralty. But it was 200 years before ships were routinely stocked with lime and lemon juice.

It’s estimated that 800,000 lives were needlessly lost during this period.

This story is interesting because it shows how organisations don’t always act in their own best interest — even when a solution is right under their nose.

It’s reminds me a bit of same-day delivery. A lot of retailers are still hesitating to implement fast, convenient delivery — even when it could be a full-on strategic savior.

If your organisation needs a push, here’s four reasons why same-day delivery is leading the high-street comeback:

1. It’s a digital strategy in a box

The high street has tended to follow rather than lead on digital, compared with pure-play online retailers.

As a result, traditional high street retailers have lost market share to organisations with an online experience that offers customers what they want: convenience and speed.

When you combine it with existing investments like apps, mobile website and personalisation, same-day delivery is often the missing piece of the puzzle.

2. Consumers are crying out for fast, convenient delivery

Shoppers would spend £168 extra with their favourite high street retailer in the next year if it offered same-day delivery, according to our recent research report.

In the last year alone, people purchased goods they needed within 24 hours an average of 35 times, and demand for quick delivery peaks whenever the buyer has something important coming up — like a night out or a work event.

These aren’t one-offs. They’re recurring events in people’s lives — adding up to a huge opportunity for switched-on retailers.

3. Same-day delivery tips the balance back in favour of high street retailers

Today, the ‘on-demand generation’ increasingly want products when they want them, where they want them — and not necessarily at home. This demand is rapidly swinging the advantage back to high street shops.

High street retailers have a huge advantage over e-commerce giants: their product is already sitting at prime retail locations close to their customers, not stored in some distant distribution centre.

Today, consumers expect more convenience with the ability to choose delivery slots that suit them — something retailers can offer simply by partnering with Stuart.

4. Same-day delivery is simple to implement

Today, many high street brands have managed to master almost every element of the online customer journey. All except for one: the all-important ‘last mile’ delivery.

With a simple, well documented API and easy to use dashboard, plugging into Stuart couldn’t be simpler.

Today, there’s a widening gap between what shoppers expect and what their favourite high street retailers are able to deliver.

If your organisation is looking to rule the real-time retail economy, plug into Stuart’s last mile service, and start offering on-demand delivery with real-time tracking.

Global brands and small businesses use Stuart to deliver everything from groceries and food to beauty products and must-have wardrobes. Get in touch to find out more: sales.uk@stuart.com