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The move, which took effect on May 16, was spurred by the happy convergence of three factors, says Barnes & Noble.com spokesperson Gus Carlson. It's a kind of dot-com holy trinity: an unusually high density of book buyers in Manhattan, their desire to get anything they want in the proverbial New York minute, and an enormous distribution center conveniently located in Dayton, N.J., less than an hour away. Have Urbanfetch and Kozmo.com, which both boast delivery of food and entertainment (including books) in less than an hour, made Barnes & Noble.com nervous? "We think of ourselves as leading as opposed to reacting," says Carlson. "We are the first booksellers to offer such an enormous selection same-day." Indeed, its book-delivery time does lag behind that of the under-an-hour guys (order by 11 a.m. and B&N guarantees delivery by 7 p.m. for titles that are in fact available within 24 hours). But the giant bookseller's wide selection sets it apart. The 35 miles of shelving at the New Jersey Distribution Center is the largest collection of titles under one roof in the history of bookselling, boasts Barnes & Noble.com Vice-Chairman Steve Riggio. PILOT TEST. While B&N.com says its same-day service is free, it still imposes the normal shipping charge of $3.30 with an additional 90-cent charge per item ordered. That makes ordering online more than the round-trip subway ride to a store and certainly more than a walk down the block. Is there really enough same-day demand to warrant the service? Results from a pilot test last fall spurred the launch, and so far the response has been encouraging, says Carlson. The company is banking on increased sales to subsidize the cost of speedy delivery, he says. CitySprint 1-800-DELIVER, the delivery service that snagged the Barnes & Noble.com same-day contract, reported that their business tripled within the first week of the rollout and has continued to increase since. "The volume we've enjoyed makes it extremely profitable," says Patrick Gallagher, vice-president for operations at CitySprint. DELIVERY PARTNERS. By turning to CitySprint for delivery, Barnes & Noble.com has made a move that dot-coms building delivery service from the ground up may come to envy, says Gallagher. "Delivery services have long been looked down on. We simply can't be as sexy as an Urbanfetch or a Kozmo," he says. But he hopes that increasingly, the value of the relationship between dot-coms and outside delivery services will become clear. Analysts agree, both that same-day is in demand and that outsourcing delivery is the way to go. "Consumers want everything delivered now and for free," says James McQuivey, director at Forrester Research. And the only cost-effective way to do it is through outsourcing, he says. "Barnes & Noble.com has made a good move, especially because they deal in books, which is one of the easiest and least expensive things to stock and deliver," says McQuivey. The nature of books may also alleviate the pressure to deliver same-hour. "Very few people order a book at 3 o'clock and expect to be reading it at 4," says McQuivey, though he's sure that some do. IS AMAZON NEXT? All this talk of books and no mention of Amazon.com? Word from Amazon is that a new delivery service may be on the horizon there too, but lips are sealed for now. The Seattle company's recent sinking of money into Kozmo.com, however, might give a clue. Should Amazon move toward faster delivery, it may face some glitches, says McQuivey. Because they've begun to sell more than just books (branching out into furniture and electronics), same-day delivery will be harder and more expensive. And explaining to customers that, "Well, you can have some things right away but have to wait for others," may prove tricky, says McQuivey. That Amazon may turn to Kozmo for delivery may prove to be a problem, too. "Kozmo fancies itself a retailing business, not a delivery service," says McQuivey. For an Amazon same-day venture to be successful, Kozmo may have to budge, he says. All told, if delivery services keep speeding up, we may never leave home again. Brown covers technology for Business Week |
