Dive Brief:

• Bed Bath & Beyond is partnering with Roadie to expand its same-day delivery offerings, which the retailer already provided in some areas through DoorDash and Shipt, according to a company press release.
• The retailer said this will bring same-day delivery to about 16,000 zipcodes, about double what it was prior to this latest partnership. There are more than 41,000 zip codes in the U.S.
• "In Q1, 31% of our digital demand was fulfilled from stores, with BOPIS representing 14% and ship-from-store and the same-day delivery accounting for 17%," Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Mark Tritton said last month.

Dive Insight:

Same-day delivery is becoming an increasingly common offering for retailers as they try to keep up with giants like Amazon, Target and Walmart, which have set the bar for speedy logistics.

The mention of "same day delivery" in financial filings increased 75% YoY in 2020 with 110 filings mentioning the service, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This includes Big Lots, Five Below, Sally Beauty and Tractor Supply.

"In addition to several changes we made in store, such as adding expanded checkout capabilities, we are now offering a same-day delivery option for about 300 stores," Five Below CEO Joel Anderson said in a December filing.

Tritton told analysts last month that the partnerships with Shipt and DoorDash had allowed it to connect with new customers and keep them coming back.

"We want to collect more data on it," Tritton said of the same-day efforts. "But we're seeing repeat purchases and repeat engagement as people become really happy with what that service delivers."

The gig economy has emerged as a relatively new player in the parcel delivery market. Crowdsourced providers, such as Roadie, add capacity to the market and serve as an alternative to retailers' traditional carriers. The flexibility that's inherent in gig platforms allows retailers and their logistics providers to flex up or down, based on demand.

Bed Bath & Beyond has made other adjustments to its supply chain to execute deliveries. It converted about 25% of stores in the U.S. and Canada into regional fulfillment centers for local delivery.

The pandemic has increased many companies' focus on e-commerce and omnichannel offerings. Bed Bath & Beyond launched new omnichannel offerings at the end of 2020, including its same-day delivery offering. And as the company works to fulfill online orders from its stores, it has seen that result in interest from consumers. The new services brought in 800,000 customers who were "completely new to Bed Bath & Beyond" in the first quarter, Tritton said in October.

Carson Krieg, co-founder and director of strategic partnerships at Convey, said agility and flexibility in omnichannel are key for retailers.

"Retailers have an opportunity to combat [Amazon] scale with agility focused on customer needs such as offering a wide variety of flexible fulfillment options, spotlighting the uniqueness of their brand, and providing proactive, transparent communication during shipping," Krieg said in a statement when Convey released its consumer survey in March.