Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) is the latest brick-and-mortar retailer to take a swing at Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). Its attempt at competition is through same-day delivery service. However, the program is geographically limited, and Macy’s has very modest sales online, even to the extent that it does not mention them prominently in its financial disclosures.
Macy’s management describes its new effort:
Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s this fall will begin piloting same-day delivery of products purchased online at macys.com, bloomingdales.com and on both brands’ mobile-enabled websites. Macy’s will offer same-day delivery to customers in eight major U.S. markets — Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New Jersey, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle and Washington, D.C. Bloomingdale’s will offer same-day delivery to customers in four major markets – Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose. Deliveries to customers will be powered by Deliv, a rapidly growing crowdsourced same day delivery provider, in collaboration with major mall owners, including General Growth Properties, Macerich, Simon and Westfield Corporation.
It is not clear what “crowdsourcing” has to do with creating a first-class service.
Despite the efforts of retailers with large online presences, led by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), there is nearly no evidence that e-commerce can make a difference in the revenue of brick-and-mortar retailers. Among the primary reasons for this are limited inventory displayed at their e-commerce sites. Another is a lack of products and services beyond those offered in stores. Part of Amazon’s success is based on its consumer electronics products, like the Kindle Fire, and widely demanded services, like its video streaming operation.
Macy’s may boast that it can change the experience of its shoppers. Unfortunately, it does not have enough shoppers online for the new program to do anything positive for the company.
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