Until drones and robots are able to deliver our meals and purchases to our homes, we’re stuck with humans doing the job. Yet there’s no amount of logistics genius or venture capitalist that will make on-demand delivery a robust or profitable business, and investors are turning away from the business. [More]
delivery
UPS Driver Helps Save Woman Held Captive After Spotting Note On A Package
By 12.9.16
A woman who was allegedly being abused and kept captive in her home by her husband was rescued this week when an observant UPS driver noticed the plea for help she’d scrawled on a package waiting to be picked up. [More]
Domino’s Training Reindeer To Deliver Pizzas
By 11.28.16
When the weather gets rough, you may be more tempted to order food for delivery. But what about the delivery person left battling the elements to bring you your grub? Domino’s Japan thinks it has just the antlered, four-legged solution. [More]
Instacart Shoppers Say Customers Confused By Change To Tipping Policy
By 11.2.16
Two months after Instacart announced it would ditch tips in favor of a “service charge,” and weeks after the company appeared to reverse course, declaring it would keep both the new sharable service charge and an option to tip on all orders, the change has officially gone into effect nationally, and some Instacart shoppers say the change has only resulted in confused customers and fewer tips. [More]
Uber Adds Surge Pricing To Food Delivery
By 10.27.16 — Updated: 10.31.16
For years, Uber has subscribed to a “surge” pricing model that increased the cost of a ride during peak times, like rush hours. Now, the ride-sharing company is taking that idea and bringing it to its UberEATS food delivery service in certain markets. [More]
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 Reportedly Opening Convenience Stores & Dedicated Curbside Pickup Sites
By 10.11.16
Days after Amazon announced it would slash the price of its Fresh grocery subscription service, the company is reportedly jumping into the food delivery business with both feet, working on plans to open bricks-and-mortar convenience stores, and offering curbside pickup for Fresh orders.
Domino’s Has To Pay Customer $910 For Pizza That Was Never Delivered
By 10.6.16
It’s bad enough when you’re forced to wait an entire hour for pizza delivery — but can you imagine waiting 18 months for your food to show up? The horror. [More]
Instacart Replaces Tips With “Service Amounts,” But Are Workers Being Stiffed?
By 9.29.16 — Updated: 10.3.16
Since its launch in 2012 Instacart has offered consumers a way to shop at their local grocery store without actually going to the store. Instead, hired shoppers would be sent a list of products, grab them off shelves, and drive them to a customer’s home or business where they often — but not always — receive a tip. But starting next month, the company is changing the way it handles tips, leaving some contractors and customers up in arms. [More]
UPS Testing Using Drones For Package Deliveries In Remote Locations
By 9.23.16
Whether it’s robotic carrier pigeons or unmanned aircraft dropping off burritos, drones are big in the delivery world. UPS is the latest company to take to the drone-filled skies and see if the aerial vehicles are the right fit for its delivery system. [More]
Amazon Cuts Shipping Time For Overseas Manufacturers
By 9.8.16
When ordering a product from another country, say, China, you might expect to wait a few weeks or even a month for the product to show up on your doorstep. If you order from Amazon, it’ll arrive in five days. Or at least that’s the new deadline the e-commerce giant has recently given the makers and suppliers of small items. [More]
Mercedes Working On Delivery Vans That Deploy Robotic Carrier Pigeons
By 9.7.16
These days, it seems like you can’t turn around without bumping into news about drones or electric vehicles. Mercedes has combined those two trendy topics with one vehicle it’s working on: an electric delivery van outfitted with two small pilotless aircraft capable of carrying small items to their final destination. [More]
Amazon May Or May Not Be Trying To Overtake UPS And FedEx
By 8.31.16
When you see a UPS or FedEx truck in your neighborhood on a weekday, or a U.S. Postal Service truck on a Sunday, they’re probably there with some kind of delivery from an online retailer, and that retailer is likely to be Amazon. As more of our everyday shopping happens online, someone will need to bring those items to our doorsteps, but it may not necessarily be the carriers we’re used to. [More]
Former JCPenney CEO Now Hand-Delivering Phones For AT&T
By 8.8.16
The last thing you would expect the former CEO of a major department store to do is deliver mobile phones to customers’ homes, but that’s exactly what a new company from former JCPenney CEO Ron Johnson is doing for AT&T. [More]
UPS Testing Saturday Ground Package Delivery
By 7.15.16
With FedEx and the Postal Service expanding their weekend delivery options as more Americans go online to buy stuff, UPS is finally getting around to a test of offering Saturday delivery for ground shipments.
[More]
Autonomous Robots Will Be Delivering Food In London, Packages In Germany
By 7.6.16
If they come bearing hot French fries and gooey pizza, I, for one, will welcome our new robot overlords with open arms. The artificial intelligence revolution is one step closer to that reality in Europe, where a food delivery service, a package delivery company, and a retail chain are testing out autonomous robot couriers. [More]
What’s Going On When Your Amazon Package Gets Delivered By Some Guy In A Sedan
By 7.5.16
Amazon increasingly promises faster, quicker, more local delivery. UPS, FedEx, and the Post Office can’t handle all that, of course, so the e-retail giant turns to local couriers, its own Amazon-branded fleet… and, increasingly, folks who volunteer to drive your stuff around for a few bucks an hour. [More]
UPS Installing A Bunch Of Lockers In Stores Because They’re Tired Of Driving To Your House
By 7.1.16
It’s not that UPS is ungrateful that all of us are shopping online so much and having items shipped to our homes. The problem is that making multiple stops in residential areas, dropping off only one package each time, is a lot less efficient than the business-to-business shipping that UPS was used to before Amazon Prime happened. That’s why the company is expanding its network of lockers, which allow 24-hour access to your packages without a delivery truck actually coming to your house. [More]
