Another day, another big retailer following Amazon down the path of investing in speedy delivery.
Another big retailer is investing in same-day delivery. This time it’s PetSmart.
The startup Deliv is helping make it happen.
Tim Boyle / Getty Images
Jason Del Rey has been a business journalist for 15 years and has covered Amazon, Walmart, and the e-commerce industry for the last decade. He was a senior correspondent at Vox.
On Monday, PetSmart, the $8 billion pet-products retailer, said it was rolling out same-day delivery in 17 metro areas in the U.S. Later this month, the service will expand to eight other markets, including New York City.
Online shoppers on PetSmart.com can choose a same-day delivery window for within a few hours of their order time. The service costs $7.99 per delivery.
To offer the new delivery speed, PetSmart is working with Deliv, a delivery startup that works with a host of large retailers such as Macy’s and Foot Locker. Unlike some competitors like Uber, Deliv is solely a business-to-business service, so retailers don’t view it as competitive in any way. The startup has raised more than $40 million in venture capital from investors including UPS and Upfront Ventures.
Traditional retailers are increasingly investing in same-day delivery services in the wake of pressure from Amazon. Amazon now offers free same-day delivery service on some items to Prime members and also offers one-hour delivery for $7.99 on thousands of products in more than two dozen U.S. cities.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
