Two days before school starts and you need those pencils and TI-89 calculators, stat? If online shopping is the route you’re going, Costco will get it to you faster than Walmart, says a new survey.

STELLAservice mystery-shopped several major online retailers to see how they stacked up. Costco came out in front with an average shipping time of 1.5 days. Walmart, QVC and Belk brought up the rear with 5.5 days.

Of course physically going to the store is the fastest with zero days of shipping, and if you plan ahead and order in advance it doesn’t matter when you place your purchase, but if the physical stores don’t have what you want or you’re short on time, it can be helpful to know which stores will get the stuff to you the fastest.

Back to school? Shop at Costco.com [STELLA blog]

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