As it was predicted, so it has come to pass: In an effort to combat “porch pirates” who love swiping any boxes left outside, Amazon is launching a new service that allows delivery people to walk into customers’ homes to drop off packages. [More]
delivery services
Google Express Bringing Delivery Service To 13 More States
By 10.25.16 — Updated: 10.31.16
Google is continuing its quest to take on same-day delivery services around the country: Google Express is now rolling out in 14 additional cities, including in Amazon’s home state of Washington. [More]
Amazon Opening Prime Now Same-Day Delivery Service To Web Users This May
By 4.4.16
As of right now, the only way for customers to use Amazon’s Prime Now — which provides same-day delivery for household items and local restaurants and stores — was with the service’s mobile app for smartphones. That is set to change in May, a new report says, with the e-commerce giant taking Prime Now to the Web. [More]
Postmates Launches Same-Day Delivery Subscription Service For $10 A Month
By 3.31.16
In a move that brings it closer to Amazon Prime territory, Postmates is launching a new subscription service that promises same-day delivery for a monthly fee of $9.99. [More]
KFC Is Getting Into The Delivery Game (But It Won’t Be Cheap)
By 11.12.15
If your dream is to be lying on your couch in your soft pants and eating from a bucket of KFC that you didn’t have to leave the house to get, your deep-fried wishes are about to come true. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, Orange County or near Los Angeles that is, and don’t mind paying a hefty delivery fee. [More]
Groupon Launches Online Food Ordering Service To Compete With Seamless, GrubHub
By 7.30.15
There’s a new player in the arena of online food ordering: Groupon launched its own online food service for customers who want to either pick up their chow or have it delivered — but it’s only in Chicago for now. Eventually, as the service expands, Seamless and GrubHub (which are owned by the same company) could have a rival in the competition to fill customers’ empty bellies with the touch of a button. [More]
Uber Still Working Out Logistics Of Delivering Food And Merchandise
By 6.16.15
New business ventures sometimes have unexpected problems. As ride-hailing service Uber tries to expand its business into hauling lunch orders and same-day online orders around, the company has hit some unanticipated problems. For example, some people order lunch when they think they’re ordering a ride, since both are part of the same mobile app. Some high-end retailers couldn’t use Uber driver since their insurance only covers merchandise up to $1,000. [More]
Amazon Expands One-Hour Delivery Service To Baltimore, Miami
By 3.19.15
It seems that so far, Amazon likes its new one-hour delivery service, which first debuted in New York City in late 2014. So much so that it’s expanding Prime Now service for household products to Baltimore and Miami. [More]
OnTrac Marks My Packages 'Delivered' Today, Delivers Them Tomorrow
By 8.27.12
Last week, we shared a story from a reader who got a very early wakeup call from OnTrac, on his porch with an Amazon package a few days earlier than anticipated. Ryan, meanwhile, has sort of the opposite problem. No, OnTrac isn’t pounding on his door after he went to bed. His packaged showed up in the system as “delivered” even though there was no sign of it. He actually received it the following day. Is OnTrac messing around with flux capacitors, redefining “delivered,” or is something else going on here? [More]
Why Is FedEx Afraid Of My Neighborhood?
By 10.26.11
Are the people who work at Kevin’s local FedEx office in the Midwest classist, racist, or just lazy? He doesn’t understand why it is that their drivers have a strange inability to find his apartment building, mostly because the local station manager believes that Kevin’s neighborhood is unsafe. [More]
Ensenda Still Not Doing So Well With The 'Send' Part
By 9.14.11
Chad just signed up for Amazon Prime, and the only choice for shipping in his area was regional delivery service Ensenda. He happened to be home when the package was expected, and received a text message notification that his package had been delivered. Perhaps it had, but not to Chad’s house. [More]
