Global Ecommerce made over $1.35 billion last year for Pitney Bowes. That was more than 40% of Pitney’s total revenue of $3.27 billion that year. It also led Pitney Bowes’ fiscal first quarter, which ended March 31, with segment revenue of $333 million. Global Ecommerce provides business-to-consumer online companies with logistics services for domestic and cross-border fulfillment, delivery and returns throughout the U.S. and more than 200 other countries.

132 retailers in the Top 1000 use Pitney Bowes as a shipping carrier. Those 132 retailers made more than $529 billion in 2023 web sales, according to Digital Commerce 360 data. Additionally, 68 use it for international ecommerce services, and 16 use it for fulfillment services. The Top 1000 is Digital Commerce 360’s database ranking North America’s largest online retailers by their web sales.

Pitney Bowes Global Ecommerce hits growing pains

In this year’s first quarter, “Global Ecommerce grew domestic parcel volumes 20% in a challenging market and reduced operating expenses,” Pitney’s then-interim CEO Jason Dies said on a Q1 earnings call.

But Global Ecommerce, one of three Pitney operating segments, has also been reporting the company’s steepest segment revenue and earnings declines: a Q1 EBITDA loss widened 14% year over year to $21 million as the unit’s revenue fell 26% to $333 million. By comparison, Pitney’s other two segments — SendTech Solutions (a mailing technology and services unit) and Presort Services (a mail-sortation business) — each amassed relatively strong financial quarters, as Pitney Bowes’ total revenue dipped by 0.005% to $830.51 million.

In 2023, Global Ecommerce’s revenue fell 14% year over year to $1.36 billion, as Pitney Bowes total revenue dropped 8% to $3.3 billion.

Lance Rosenzweig, interim CEO, Pitney Bowes Inc.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based company, under a new interim CEO appointed in May, Lance Rosenzweig, is conducting a review of Global Ecommerce’s options going forward. In addition, it recently sold the unit’s fulfillment services business to Stord, an Atlanta-based company that specializes in providing fulfillment services to online merchants. Pitney Bowes didn’t provide details on that sale but told industry publication Freightwaves that fulfillment services were a “small piece of the business.”

Rosenzweig joins Pitney Bowes after serving as a top executive at several public and private companies, including Boingo Wireless, technical support services firm Support.com, and customer experience software company Startek.

Pitney seeks a new head of Global Ecommerce

Gregg Zegras, former president, Global Ecommerce, Pitney Bowes

The Global Ecommerce unit’s recently departed president, Pitney veteran Gregg Zegras, retired earlier this month. Pitney Bowes has yet to name a replacement for Zegras.

Pitney Bowes said earlier this month that it was in the final stages of an “expedited strategic review of Global Ecommerce to eliminate ongoing operating losses.” The company recently identified $70 million in cost savings outside of Global Ecommerce and expects to eventually realize overall savings between $120 million and $160 million.

Stord’s acquisition of Global Ecommerce’s fulfillment services includes a 640,000-square-foot warehouse facility in Hebron, Kentucky, with robotic automation and other features. Stord said that facility is now the largest warehouse in its North American network.

Earlier this year, Stord acquired Pro-Pack Logistics, a fulfillment services provider to multichannel merchants in the U.S. and Canada, and it launched Stord Europe with fulfillment centers in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to support B2B and B2C markets throughout Europe. Stord says it manages more than $5 billion in commerce annually through its fulfillment, warehousing and transportation services.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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Emily Newton

Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) have become more common at supply chain locations worldwide, transporting containers and other loads between ships, trucks, rail cars and warehouses. Why are more leaders using them? Most use cases relate to relieving congestion and improving operations when ports experience record-setting traffic levels. Decision-makers recognize how AGVs can streamline their supply chains, keeping containers moving and preventing costly delays.

Accelerating the Movement of Goods

The supply chain’s persistent labor shortage can cause staffing crises that are particularly impactful during peak periods. Some leaders have deployed AGVs for material handling tasks, finding that such efforts help them maintain high productivity.

One example came from China’s Ganqimaodu land port. Each AGV moved between this port and a Mongolian coal stockyard, carrying two standard containers of imported products along a 1.86-kilometer route. An AGV takes 50 minutes per round trip and travels up to 25 kilometers per hour.

The AGV operator using them in China has 30 in its fleet, using 24 each weekday. They move 10,400 tons of coal daily during 160 total round trips. Additionally, there are 30 AGVs in Mongolia. Supply chain managers believe that using all 60 simultaneously will allow for achieving a 15-million-ton transport capacity.

To provide perspective on the overall coal-related activity at the port, leaders said each arriving truck holds up to four standard containers and makes four to six round trips per month. This initiative was the first instance of AGVs used at a land port for cross-border transportation, showing the potential of such applications.

Examples such as this show how AGVs can minimize supply chain staffing shortages, keeping each port as productive as possible during those challenging times. Moreover, AGVs can support other automation projects to relieve labor needs.

Japanese officials plan to address the labor shortage with a conveyor belt from Osaka to Tokyo. The so-called Autoflow-Road project would include infrastructure above and on the sides of roads, as well as tunnels underneath major highways. Estimates suggest this system could move loads equal to that of 25,000 trucks daily, and that each container placed on the conveyor belt would hold up to 1 metric ton of goods.

Facilitating Improved Forecasting

Multiple partners often handle goods moving through supply chains, especially when those loads require multimodal transport solutions. Clients understandably want progress updates on their container loads so they can plan associated operations accordingly. Managers frequently deploy connected technologies to meet those needs.

For example, the United Kingdom’s Port of Dover has an advanced digital twin that predicts the associated tidal flows and weather conditions, supporting safe arrivals and departures. That tool complements a landside digital twin that optimizes traffic flows and port operations while supporting decarbonization and energy efficiency efforts. Such visibility enhances predictions and reduces the reliance on guesswork. Supply chain clients benefit by passing on more accurate information to their customers, increasing the likelihood of repeat business.

People worldwide have warmly embraced online purchasing, appreciating its convenience and efficiency. In 2023, U.S. B2B ecommerce sales surpassed $2 trillion and U.S. retail ecommerce sales topped $1.1 trillion. And analyses suggest global retail ecommerce sales will surpass $8 trillion by 2027. Shoppers who receive correct estimates of incoming parcels can adjust their schedules accordingly, remaining available when they arrive.

Improving Resilience

Supply chain experts frequently assess their business models, identifying new ways to protect their networks from shocks that could severely disrupt their operations. Many search for process improvement options, knowing that even small tweaks can significantly improve outcomes.

These professionals must focus on the things within their control to minimize the effects of those that are not. Then, they remain better equipped to handle the various fluctuations common to their industries.

Freight indexes are nearly 10 times higher than pre-COVID-19 levels. However, leaders who use AGVs and other automated tools to strengthen their supply chains have more oversight and influence over the impact of supply chain fluctuations. Improvements could free up money in the budget for aspects outside their control.

Decision-makers may implement AGVs as part of more-extensive automation strategies, knowing targeted improvements will keep them competitive and profitable. A logistics company did that to prepare for Singles Day, which has become one of China’s most notable online shopping days. Business leaders created a robust, end-to-end system to support the supply chain from first-mile pickups to last-mile deliveries.

That all-encompassing effort allowed the enterprise to deliver more than 200 million parcels to customers who shopped for the occasion. AGVs played a significant role in the success. A single Thailand warehouse has 100 of the machines, which collectively reduce employees’ walking time by 90%. This example shows that AGVs can support higher efficiencies along the supply chain.

Planning AGV Utilization

Today’s supply chains pose increasing challenges, but automated guided vehicles can overcome many of them. However, any AGV-related plans must carefully consider worker training, traffic flow, tech infrastructure and other necessities.

Addressing those matters early in the process boosts the chance of success and provides a strong return on investment. Getting inspired by supply chain partners currently using AGVs in their processes is an excellent way to explore what is possible.

About the author:

Emily Newton reports on how technology disrupts industrial sectors. She’s also the editor-in-chief of Revolutionized, covering innovations in industry, construction, and more.

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A new study from researchers at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., finds that people living in communities located next to large warehouses are exposed to 20% more of a traffic-related air pollutant that can lead to asthma and other life-threatening health conditions.

“Increased truck traffic to and from these recently built large warehouses means people living downwind are inhaling an increased amount of harmful nitrogen dioxide pollution,” says Gaige Kerr, an assistant research professor of environmental and occupational health at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. “Communities of color are disproportionately affected because they often live in close proximity to warehouses, especially dense clusters of warehouses.”

Ecommerce warehouses worsen air quality

Researchers measured nitrogen dioxide levels by using a satellite instrument from the European Space Agency to zero in from space on the nearly 150,000 large warehouses located across the U.S.

Trucks and other vehicles traveling to and from these large warehouses spew out nitrogen dioxide, particulates, and other harmful pollutants, the study says.

The researchers also looked at traffic information from the Federal Highway Administration and demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

A major cause of added pollution has been the boom in warehouse construction. That boom was spurred by record levels of ecommerce buying from consumers and businesses. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic fueled the explosion of the ecommerce industry and warehouses that receive and sort consumer goods. As a result, the transportation infrastructure needed to ship goods to warehouses and then on to consumers is enormous, according to the researchers. Amazon, specifically, an industry leader in ecommerce, operated 175,000 delivery vans and more than 37,000 semi-trailers in 2021.

Amazon is No. 1 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s database of North America’s largest online retailers based on web sales. It’s also No. 3 in the Global Online Marketplaces database, which ranks the 100 largest global marketplaces by third-party gross merchandise value (GMV). Digital Commerce 360 projects Amazon’s total web sales in 2024 will reach $469.01 billion.

According to the study, although warehouses are located all over the US, 20% are concentrated in just 10 counties:

• Maricopa, Arizona
• Alameda, California
• Los Angeles, California
• Orange, California
• San Bernardino, California
• Miami-Dade, Florida
• Cook, Illinois
• Cuyahoga, Ohio
• Dallas, Texas
• Harris, Texas

Key findings from the study

• Although the average spike of nitrogen dioxide associated with warehouses was 20%, nitrogen dioxide levels near warehouses were even larger when there was greater heavy-duty vehicle activity near these facilities.
• Warehouses with more loading docks and parking spaces attract the most traffic. They are also associated with the highest nitrogen dioxide levels.
• Communities with large racial and ethnic minority populations are often located near warehouses. Thus, they inhale more nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants. The proportion of Hispanic and Asian people living close to the largest clusters of warehouses is about 250% higher than the average nationwide.

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A Houthi spokesperson stated in December that they would target “ships affiliated to Israel or transporting commodities to Israeli ports” and continue to do so if “food and medicine keep not accessing the Gaza Strip.”

The online freight-booking and payments platform said it facilitated a 32% year-over-year increase in the number of transactions to 316,500, exceeding management’s Q2 expectations.

Freightos transaction volume in Q2

Freightos said in a statement that it had expected transaction volume to grow between 27% and 29% to a range of 303,000 and 309,000 transactions. It also said the Q2 growth rate of 32% outpaced its long-term targeted growth rate range of 20-30%.

“This significant transaction growth highlights the growing adoption of digital solutions in the freight industry,” Freightos said.

Freightos added that steady freight prices resulted in corresponding increases in its Q2 gross booking value. It also exceeded expectations by growing 31% to $203.4 million. Freightos had expected Q2 booking value would rise only 15%-18% to a range of $178 million to $182 million.

Freightos lets importers and exporters compare freight shipping rates, book shipments and pay for services through Freightos.com. It also provides software for air and ocean carriers and freight forwarders for managing quoting, pricing, bookings and other operations.

An expanding base of buyers and carriers

Despite its prior slower-growth expectations, Freightos prepared in Q2 for more long-term growth by expanding its air and ocean carrier network by 38% to 51 from 37 carriers. In addition, its number of unique “buyer users” in Q2 increased 16% to approximately 19,000.

Freightos notes that its buyer organizations range from small and midsized businesses to large multinational organizations. Its number of buyer users includes all the individuals placing bookings on its platform. A spokesman adds that Freightos has an average of more than 5,000 bookings per workday.

“This growth underscores the ongoing marketplace network effects, where buyers attract sellers and sellers attract buyers,” Freightos said.

Handling spot freight market growth

Freightos also attributed its growth to its ability to serve the spot freight market, or freight shipments handled outside of long-term contracts.

“This momentum represents the continued digitalization of the spot freight market, estimated to comprise 30%-50% of the total air and ocean freight market,” the marketplace company said.

As part of its carrier network expansion, Freightos in June announced agreements with Thai Airlines and Coyne Airways, carriers on Freightos.com that will use the WebCargo by Freightos digital booking and payment platform to manage freight services across areas including Asia, Africa, and the Persian Gulf and Caspian regions.

Barcelona, Spain-based Freightos said it will host a conference call to discuss its Q2 financial results and Q3 outlook on Aug. 19.

Here’s last quarter’s update on Freightos.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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Funko handles fulfillment for many orders from funko.com through its warehouse in Phoenix, Arizona, Smiley told Digital Commerce 360 at the Salesforce Connections 2024 conference in Chicago. But when consumers buy a “Pop! Yourself” figure — a customizable figure made to look like an individual — fulfillment goes through a third-party logistics (3PL) provider’s warehouse in Mexico. Additionally, Funko orders made via Amazon.com go through Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).

And it doesn’t stop there. Funko is exploring more fulfillment options to prepare for holiday sales.

Funko prepares for holiday sales with fulfillment expansion

The retailer plans “to continue to lean into the Pop! Yourself” figures because they’re the retailer’s most giftable offering, Smiley told Digital Commerce 360.

“When you want to gift something to somebody, you want it to be personalized,” Smiley said.

Funko promotes its Pop! Yourself figures, which go through a third-party logistics provider for fulfillment, ahead of the holiday season.

And at the moment, Funko only ships with one carrier, UPS. But it plans to expand to ship with multiple carriers for the 2024 holiday shopping season, Smiley told Digital Commerce 360.

“That’s going to enable us to bump up our last-ship date,” he said. “Our cutoff date will be closer to the holidays, and we’ll offer expedited and things like that.”

Smiley declined to specify which additional carriers Funko will use for holiday fulfillment, but he said they are some of the largest carriers in the nation.

Funko saw “massive growth” in its direct-to-consumer sales last holiday season, Smiley stated. And he expects more growth this year. He estimates a quarter of Funko sales today are DTC.

“We were not necessarily a Q4 brand like many other retailers were because of our conventions,” Smiley explained. “Summer was always our biggest season. The holidays started to — maybe by and large because of Pop! Yourself — become a competitive time of the year compared to the conventions as well.”

Why does Funko use different fulfillment warehouses?

In the case of its Pop! Yourself figures, the main reason Funko doesn’t ship them from its Arizona factory is because the 3PL provider also handles the building component. Funko has to build each customized figure to order. On the other hand, Funko figures shipped out of the retailer’s warehouse in Arizona come assembled.

Smiley said the Funko’s Arizona warehouse is “just not set up” to handle the building in addition to the fulfillment.

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Albertsons is No. 24 in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000, a ranking of North America’s leading retailers by online sales. The company appears in the rankings’ Food & Beverage category. Digital Commerce 360 projects total ecommerce sales for Albertsons in 2024 will be $5.52 billion.

Albertsons ecommerce sales by year

Why Albertsons is partnering with Grubhub for delivery

Amber Kappa, vice president of business development and digital innovation at Albertsons Co., framed the partnership in the context of the grocer’s prioritization of “convenience, choice and variety.”

“With our latest collaboration with Grubhub, shoppers can receive fresh produce, household essentials, and regional favorites directly from our stores to their homes with a simple tap on Grubhub,” she said in a public statement.

Analysts and insiders see the partnership as offering strategic benefits to both parties and customers.

Damian Rollison, director of market insights at the brand marketing platform SOCi, said that the Grubhub and Albertsons alliance makes sense.

“The partnership between Grubhub and Albertsons marks a strategic move for both companies to capture a larger share of the online grocery delivery market,” Rollison says.

Delivery strategy at Albertsons

Rollison said this collaboration expands Albertsons’ digital footprint and enhances customer convenience. He also noted that it diversifies delivery options alongside existing Albertsons partnerships with Instacart and DoorDash. In addition, it responds to consumer demand for increased digital availability of common local needs, including groceries.

Rollison said Grubhub’s entry into the grocery delivery market uses its established logistics and customer base. Moreover, it will tap into a new revenue stream as online grocery shopping continues to grow.

“Partnering with a major chain like Albertsons also strengthens Grubhub’s competitive position by offering a more comprehensive service portfolio,” Rollison assessed.

He called this partnership the latest example of a food delivery company trying to become an “everything app” connecting consumers to local stores.

“This partnership sets a precedent for future collaborations in the online grocery delivery space, reflecting the current consumer retail behavior,” Rollison says.

Opening up a new channel for discovery

While home grocery delivery has become a fairly standard service since the pandemic, Jennifer Silverberg, CEO of the ecommerce platform provider SmartCommerce, says that Albertsons’ partnership with Grubhub has a crucial difference from in-house delivery services like ones run by Kroger: “Grubhub is not talking about being the fulfillment engine of an order that happens on an Albertsons site,” Silverberg said (though that may happen, too). Rather, she sees it as being more about using Albertsons as a product source, or de facto “warehouse” for products purchased on Grubhub.

“This moves the shopping experience from Albertsons to Grubhub, which reflects what we have been seeing for a while, where product discovery and now even the transaction have become distributed, rather than concentrated only at the retailer,” Silverberg stated.  She added that the trend has expanded the definition of a retailer to pretty much anywhere a product is purchased.

“We have the potential to see a fundamental change in what we as consumers consider a store,” Silverberg said. She called the partnership “a very smart move” for Albertsons.

“It gets them at the front of the line for expanding their reach with Grubhub’s reach,” she explained. “It would be easy and understandable for a retailer to try to insist on controlling the full shopping experience — many are — but based on the shifts we’ve seen in consumer behavior, this was a very smart move for all parties.”

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Starting in June, customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex will begin to be notified of the new ordering capability, according to a release from Walmart. Customers will receive notifications through the Walmart app if they are eligible based on their address. The app integration will be done in phases as more drone delivery sites ramp up and drone providers receive additional regulatory approvals to fly more goods across greater distances.

Walmart has been engaged in an increasingly competitive technology arms race with rival Amazon, as well as others, such as Target and Costco in the Mass Merchant category of the Top 1000. This year, Amazon is expanding drone service in Arizona after wrapping experiments with it in California.

Walmart ranks No. 2 in the Digital Commerce 360 Top 1000. The Top 1000 is a database ranking North America’s leading retailers by online sales.

Walmart’s drone delivery expansion

A spokesperson for Walmart told Digital Commerce 360 that the drones are exciting for everyone, including the customers.

“ Our drone pilot programs have been exciting for both Walmart and our customers,” the spokesperson said. “ The communities have been very receptive to adopting drone deliveries, and we’re confident that enthusiasm will continue as we expand.”

The spokesperson told Digital Commerce 360 that there are now thousands of items that qualify for drone delivery.

“ There are thousands of items that qualify for delivery including last-minute meal solutions, groceries, household supplies, general merchandise like video games and OTC medicines,” the spokesperson said.

Delivering late-night munchies by drone is part of a larger strategy that Walmart is executing, according to industry insiders. Walmart is trying to get ahead of competitors even if it means tinkering as the program unfolds.

Drone delivery’s significance for Walmart

“Their strategy is to build a ‘Unified Commerce’ ecosystem that integrates online, offline, technology, supply chain, and media for 360 consumer engagement and experience,” said Michael Zacour, founder and chief strategist at 5 New Digital.

This phase of the program is all about working out the kinks, according to Zacour.

“The drone program is still in the experimental, test-and-learn phase,” Zacour explained. “Whether Walmart customers or other consumers in general will embrace the service at scale remains to be seen. The key is that Walmart is not waiting to see what happens with other retailers and brands and then play catch-up.”

The drone-via-app experiment is in line with other aggressive moves into digital that Walmart has been rolling out, including AI-assisted shopping in the app which is intended to provide the customer with a more seamless shopping experience.

“The drone experiment is part of the bigger move into digital commerce (end-to-end use of digital technologies across the enterprise). We can see this in the company’s other recent tech deployments,” Zacour says.

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How CBP proceeds could have implications for international retailers, including China-originated shipments ordered through Shein and Temu. The companies fell under scrutiny by the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party in 2023, along with other companies.

During the investigation, the committee looked at the current de minimis environment for imports. An update in 2016 allowed that a single person on one day could import articles with a total value of up to $800 without formal customs declarations. That de minimis threshold allows shipments to avoid certain import duty and tax obligations. It was raised from a previous level of $200.

“Temu and Shein alone are likely responsible for more than 30 percent of all packages shipped to the United States daily under the de minimis provision, and likely nearly half of all de minimis shipments to the U.S. from China,” the bipartisan committee’s report claimed.

Shein is No. 2 in Digital Commerce 360’s Asia Database ranking ecommerce retailers in the region by online sales. The online apparel retailer was valued at $66 billion in May 2023 when it closed its latest funding round.

PDD Holdings owns Temu, which launched in 2022 and isn’t yet reflected in the database. PDD also owns Pinduoduo, which operates an app-only marketplace for Chinese consumers. Because it doesn’t operate an ecommerce website, Pinduoduo is not included in Digital Commerce 360’s Asia Database.

How will US Customs enforce de minimis rules for ecommerce?

U.S. de minimis imports | Image source: U.S. International Trade Commission

“While balancing our economic security and trade facilitation mission with our law enforcement responsibilities, CBP is taking action to ensure compliance and minimize the exploitation of the small package, or de minimis, environment,” said Troy Miller, acting commissioner at CBP, in a statement released May 31. “While the majority of brokers, carriers, and supply chain businesses that participate in CBP’s Entry Type 86 Test are compliant with applicable laws, we are enhancing our enforcement efforts to ensure that all participants are held accountable when they are not.”

The U.S. International Trade Commission published a briefing in November 2023. Its author concluded that most imports using the de minimis standards came from China.

“The majority of these imports, shipped by postal and express delivery services, are retail products purchased online,” the report stated. “Section 321 imports have been the key channel for Chinese business-to-consumer (B2C) online retailers that ship direct from factories or distribution centers in China to U.S. consumers.”

It also cited those imports as a source of interest in Congress.

“The large volume and fast growth of these imports from China since 2018 has led to increased Congressional scrutiny and proposed legislation to modify what some have called an outdated program not suited to the current trade environment of surging cross-border e-commerce,” the report found.

Implications for Shein and Temu

In addition, the International Trade Commission briefing stated that Chinese ecommerce firms had “exploited” the increased U.S. de minimis level and minimized inspections. It also characterized the outcome for “Chinese e-commerce providers” being increased U.S. market share.

“In particular, Shein and Temu, online Chinese fast fashion retailers, reportedly accounted for over 30 percent of U.S. de minimis imports in 2022,” the briefing stated. “Shein has maximized the direct-to-consumer business model and it eclipsed leading U.S. firms in the category in 2022, with U.S. revenues growing from under $500 million in 2018 to over $3 billion in 2022. Temu’s business model also relies heavily on U.S. de minimis treatment.”

Already, CBP has taken action against an unknown number of brokers that it found to be posing compliance risks.

“To date, CBP has suspended multiple customs brokers from participating in the Entry Type 86 Test after determining that their entries posed an unacceptable compliance risk,” Miller said.

Those brokers will be eligible for reinstatement. However, they must demonstrate to CBP that they have “developed and implemented a remedial action plan,” he explained.

Shein’s potential IPO in London

Shein reportedly filed confidentially for a public offering in the U.S. last November. However, those plans face obstacles, including regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. and in China, where it was founded. Instead, the company has since shifted talk to the U.K. for a possible London-based public offering. That filing could come any day, Sky News reported on June 3.

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Walmart launched InHome in 2019, piloting the program in Pittsburgh and Vero Beach, Florida, before expanding to other markets. The program uses specially trained delivery personnel who use one-time access codes via smart locks and record the entire delivery via a body camera.

Why Walmart is expanding InHome delivery

Walmart is touting the expansion as a boon for customer convenience.

“We understand that customers are busy and want to make sure that they can have a seamless shopping experience that fits their needs,” Haley McShane, general manager of InHome, Walmart U.S., said in a released statement.

Industry analysts have mixed views about the service. However, optimists view in-home delivery as an untapped market with considerable room to grow.

Walmart is No. 2 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of North America’s online retailers by web sales. It is also No. 9 in the Global Online Marketplaces Database, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of top such marketplaces by third-party gross merchandise value (GMV).

Using InHome to drive customer loyalty

Carson Krieg is the Director of Global Alliances and Last Mile expert at the supply chain platform Project44. He says the slice of the retail audience that InHome appeals to is a niche one but is highly loyal. As such, it is something retailers prize.

“InHome offering doesn’t appeal to everyone,” Krieg said. “While the audience likely to leverage the delivery service is niche, it is a high-value and loyal one.”

He added that InHome could also appeal to elderly people or those with health conditions who can’t lug in and put away groceries.

“This is a smart way to create a new subset of loyal customers,” he explained. “Other retailers will likely try to emulate the brand and incorporate similar services, especially as Walmart continues to dominate the grocery segment.”

Innovation and competition

Jeremy Bartlow, a consumer expert at London-based PA Consulting, says that while InHome may be expanding to 10 million new customers, he expects the service to initially appeal to only a small subset.

“Actual usage will likely be much lower shortly, similar to its drone-delivery pilot program,” Bartlow says, adding that a change in consumer behavior and trust is needed for it to catch on.

“These are large barriers, but given the trend towards ultimate convenience for consumers, this may be a solid long-term play,” Bartlow says.

Competitors will also be hard-pressed to replicate the service, giving Walmart an advantage, at least for now.

“While competitors may attempt to replicate this strategy, only a few — perhaps two or three — could realistically compete with Walmart nationally,” Bartlow says.

The InHome concept was developed in Walmart’s now-shuttered Store No. 8 incubator. Store No. 8 was launched as an idea incubator to test new concepts. It was also meant to help keep pace with rivals, especially Amazon. The name was a reference to the early Walmart location where co-founder Sam Walton tried out new concepts.

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Most notably, the option to enter Grubhub orders will appear for users on the Amazon.com website. It will also show up in the Amazon Shopping app. Currently live in both contexts, ordering requires both an Amazon account and a Grubhub account, which need to be linked. The orders can then be executed within Amazon’s environments.

Amazon ranks No. 1 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. It is also No. 3 in Digital Commerce 360’s Global Online Marketplaces Database, which ranks the 100 largest such marketplaces by third-party gross merchandise value (GMV).

Grubhub+ access for Amazon Prime members

In addition to basic ordering functionality, Amazon is promoting free Grubhub+ features for existing Amazon Prime subscribers. For Prime members, that will mean $0 delivery fees on orders worth more than $12, with other associated savings. Also, through June 2 Amazon is featuring a one-time $5 discount for a single order over $25.

Grubhub ordering in Amazon app | Image credit: Amazon.com

“Whether it’s saving money on your favorite takeout with Grubhub+, exclusive deals on Prime Day, prescription savings with RxPass, entertainment with Prime Video, or free shipping on more than 300 million items including tens of millions of products available with Same-Day or One-Day Delivery, Prime keeps getting better for members,” said Jamil Ghani, vice president of Amazon Prime in a released statement. “We know Prime members value savings on food delivery, so we are extending the $0 delivery fees and exclusive savings with Grubhub+ for Prime members, and now customers can enjoy easy access to Grubhub from the Amazon store and app.”

Amazon’s previous work with Grubhub

Amazon previously promoted a one-year trial offer to Prime members, resulting in a paid Grubhub+ membership after the year-long period concluded. Under the new terms, no additional paid account will be activated.

“We’re thrilled to build on our successful collaboration with Amazon and bring more convenience to Amazon customers by offering Grubhub’s network of hundreds of thousands of restaurants directly on Amazon.com and in the Amazon Shopping app,” said Howard Migdal, chief executive officer at Grubhub. “More consumers can now experience the exceptional value and service offered by Grubhub+, with Prime members enjoying $0 delivery fees on an ongoing basis.”

Beyond ordering and Grubhub+ access, Amazon and Grubhub have also collaborated on their “Tune In & Takeout” series, recommending food pairings and offers based on TV shows and movies available to view on Prime Video. Recently Grubhub also offered a Nuka-Blast Burger meal to make the premier of Prime Video’s “Fallout” TV series, based on the video game franchise of the same name.

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The post Amazon’s site and Shopping app add Grubhub ordering options appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.