Image source: UPS
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) is launching a pilot program to explore whether or not a same-day delivery model is feasible for the company, according to The Wall Street Journal.
During an investor day webcast on Wednesday, UPS chief executive officer Carol Tomé said, “We don’t have a same-day product today, as you know, and so we’re looking at it. We don’t have this all the way figured out, but we’ve got a team of people looking at it.”
Tomé did not offer any other details on the concept being tested and an UPS spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal the company does not comment on its pilot programs.
UPS rival FedEx Corporation already offers same-day delivery in a limited number of locations and has been testing the use of robots to make local deliveries, the newspaper noted.
Amazon.com Inc, one of UPS’s biggest customers, and Instacart Inc, are also among the current providers of same-day delivery services.
Demand for rapid delivery, which was already becoming popular prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, surged over the past year as consumers avoided in-store shopping.
The increase in e-commerce has left UPS, FedEx and the United States Postal Service inundated with packages and has forced retailers to find new ways to get goods to consumers while containing soaring delivery costs.
As a result, a growing number of companies, including Walmart and Target Corporation, have added more curbside and same-day delivery options to help meet that demand. The pandemic has also seen restaurant delivery platforms, such as DoorDash Inc and Uber Technologies Inc, expand into groceries.
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Source: Equities News
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