As bricks-and-mortar retailers attempt to attract more customers and make more sales, they are increasingly courting online shoppers. But all of those two-day shipping services and other free shipping guarantees are putting pressure on delivery companies, and that could be a big problem, according to the top executive at JCPenney. [More]
delivery
Walmart Employees Now Delivering Packages To Your Front Door
By 6.1.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
Two-day free shipping, online pickup discounts, grocery pickup — these are just a few ways in which Walmart has tried to up its online shopping game while staying competitive with rival Amazon. Today, the big box retailer rolled out its latest effort: sending associates to customers’ houses with orders in hand. [More]
McDonald’s Expands Delivery Option To Four Additional Cities
By 5.17.17
Soon, thousands of customers in seven cities around the U.S. won’t have to get off the couch to grab a bag of McDonald’s (though one might need to get off the couch to answer the door). The fast food giant has expanded its partnership with UberEATS to deliver McNuggets and Big Macs from more than 1,000 McD’s locations. [More]
Delivery Man Brings Pizza To “Hangry” Passengers On Stalled Amtrak Train
By 5.16.17
In an act of pizza heroism that earned him $32 in tips, a delivery man brought grub to hangry — hungry and angry — passengers stuck on a stalled Amtrak train. But while his move was met with cheers from Amtrak riders, the train operator is warning against walking that close to the tracks. [More]
Pizza Hut Is Betting $130M It Can Bring Customers Back
By 5.3.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
While rival Domino’s has managed to pull off a major comeback, Pizza Hut has been struggling for years to turn around slumping sales. In an effort to keep up with the competition, it seems the company figures it might as well throw a bunch of money at the problem. [More]
FedEx Won’t Throw My Package Over The Fence — Even Though I Asked Them To
By 5.1.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
We’ve all seen videos featuring delivery drivers showing off their athleticism, chucking, tossing, throwing, and otherwise unceremoniously dumping items. This tends to annoy both the recipient and the sender, who sometimes has to replace damaged items. It would seem to make sense for FedEx to have a “don’t throw packages” policy, but what if you need the driver to give your parcel that extra push? [More]
Amazon Now Working On Self-Driving Vehicles For Deliveries
By 4.24.17
Between drones, leased planes, and its own fleet of Flex drivers, Amazon has a decent foothold in the transportation-and-delivery market. But now the company apparently has an eye on the future, and it involves driverless vehicles. [More]
Why Doesn’t Taco Bell Do Its Own Delivery?
By 4.11.17
If you want Taco Bell but don’t want to go to Taco Bell, there are third-party delivery services that will take your order, but those can be costly and slow. Even Taco Bell says these options aren’t fast enough, so why isn’t the company doing its own delivery? CEO Brian Niccol says it might… eventually. [More]
Amazon Prime Expanding Beer, Wine Delivery Service
By 3.15.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Hate putting on real pants to go buy beer or wine? Some Ohio residents will have another option now that Amazon is expanding its Prime Now beer and wine delivery to customers in certain cities. [More]
UPS Testing Residential Drone Deliveries Launched From Trucks
By 2.21.17
After first testing the idea of using drones to deliver packages to extra remote locations, UPS is making its move into more residential skies with octocopters that can be launched from roving trucks. [More]
Amazon Files Patent For Parachuting Packages From Drones
By 2.15.17 — Updated: 2.21.17
Now that Amazon’s Prime Air delivery drones have made their first dropoff, it seems the e-commerce giant wants to make the process even more efficient: Instead of unmanned aerial vehicles landing to set a package on the ground, Amazon has cooked up an idea for fly-by deliveries. [More]
Amazon Signs 50-Year Lease On Air Cargo Hub In Kentucky
By 2.1.17
Sure, Amazon keeps saying that it isn’t interested in carrying freight for other companies even as it leases planes and invests in one of the companies it leases from. Now the company has signed a lease on a space similar in size to the air hubs of FedEx and UPS. [More]
Pizzeria Claims Enraged UberEATS Driver Fired BB Gun Into Restaurant
By 1.19.17
Whether you’re into the idea of food delivery robots or not, they’ve got one thing going for’em: they’re not about to get mad and shoot up a restaurant if their plans are scuttled. Unlike the UberEATS driver who’s accused of firing a BB gun into a pizzeria after the eatery denied him a delivery order. [More]
Domino’s Worker Fired For Writing Racist Joke Inside Pizza Box
By 1.11.17
It’s one thing to ask for a funny joke to go along with your dinner delivery, but when one customer received a pizza box with a very unfunny racist comment written inside, a franchise owner in Massachusetts says he fired the worker responsible. [More]
Instacart Shoppers Say Change To Tipping Policy Has Led To Pay Cuts, Deactivated Accounts
By 1.10.17
Things between Instacart and the people it uses to deliver grocery orders have been a bit contentious ever since the company decided to overhaul its tipping practices last fall. Months later, it doesn’t appear to be getting any better, as shoppers tell Consumerist the company has cut their pay by way of decreasing delivery rates, prevented them from picking up orders, and at times, deactivated their accounts. [More]
Amazon Claims Fastest Christmas Eve Delivery Only Took 13 Minutes
By 12.27.16
‘Tis the day after the day after Christmas, when retailers sit back and congratulate themselves on all their hard work. Like Amazon, which says it was so good at selling last-minute gifts, its fastest Prime Now delivery on Christmas Eve took only 13 minutes. [More]
Video Shows UPS Worker Dumping Packages Over A Garden Wall
By 12.19.16
Where there’s a will, there’s a way, or so they say. But when it comes to overcoming a delivery obstacle, that way shouldn’t involve simply dumping packages marked “fragile” on the ground. [More]
Amazon Makes First Commercial Drone Delivery To Customer In England
By 12.14.16
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has had a dream for a while now: delivery drones flying here, there, and everywhere, zooming over rooftops and dropping off packages to customers. That dream has now become real with Amazon’s first Prime Air drone delivery, Bezos announced today. [More]
