Since the invention of the Internet, our day to day activities are rapidly becoming digitalized. The act of shopping is no exception to this. In fact, roughly eight out of ten Americans have previously used the Internet to purchase something.
The rise of e-commerce and the success of online retailers, such as Amazon, bring new threats to traditional brick and mortar businesses. Thus, in order to stay relevant and competitive, traditional businesses must adapt and capitalize their online market share in the digital age.
Loblaws Companies Limited partnered with Metrolinx to create a grocery pick-up service called PC Express. Recently, PC Express has opened up 3 new location for its services within the TTC network. This allows commuters in Toronto to order groceries online and have it delivered to their home or at a desired station to be picked up as they make their way home. When this service was first launched in early 2018, there was about 200 stores nationwide in Canada for consumers to choose from; now they’ve expanded to about 700 stores. At the time, there was only pickup locations within 5 GO stations – Bronte, Oakville, Rouge Hill, Whitby and Clarkson.
In September 2018, Walmart launched their 1-hour grocery delivery service in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). This gave consumers the option of having their groceries delivered straight to their home or be picked up at a retail location. The ability to deliver on the same day allows both Loblaws and Walmart to stay competitive against Amazon and its recent acquisition, Whole Foods Market. However, Amazon made an announcement changing their Amazon Prime two-day delivery to one-day delivery, in competition with Walmart’s online shopping service beyond groceries. In response, Walmart debuts a next-day delivery service for 220,000 items. This service is currently available in Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Arizona, with future plans to add more items into the service and expand into Southern California. Walmart plans to make this available to 75 percent of the US consumers by the end of the year.
As Walmart expands its online shopping services and shortens its delivery, it maintains a competitive advantage over Amazon as a traditional brick and mortar retailer. With over 11,300 stores, providing a delivery or pick-up service is essential to compete against online retailing such as Amazon.
As a consumer, there will be plenty of more services out there to choose from to satisfy their online shopping needs from groceries to gifts, clothes, and more.
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