Multichannel marketing and the 'last mile' challenge

Customers want to be able to buy in a store or online or via app, from anywhere, at any time. Perhaps the most problematic aspect of multichannel marketing is actually getting products to buyers--the 'last mile' challenge.

Different retailers are tackling the 'last mile' challenge in different ways, as Marketing Week points out in its yearend review of UK marketing. 

• Waitrose is storing grocery purchases in temperature-controlled lockers that buyers unlock with a code delivered via mobile. This allows the grocery chain to serve customers in areas where it has no stores.
• Ebay purchased Shutl in October, with the goal of speeding purchases to customers in a growing number of markets worldwide. 
• Asda's 'click & collect' program adds convenience by encouraging shopping via app and convenient pickup from locations near customers' homes or offices. 
• Amazon has announced plans to investigate the use of drones (Octocopters) for delivery within 30 minutes of online ordering. Really.

Watch for more innovations and experiments as online marketers test new ways to make buying and receiving products as convenient and painless as possible.

Same-day delivery sharpens retail competition

You see something on Argos or Karen Millen, click to buy it, and then . . . wait to receive the package a day or two or a week later? That's so twentieth-century.

These and other retailers are now speeding packages to customers on the same day, for an extra fee, adding to the competitive pressure while improving the value equation for customers who want their purchases right away.

If you're shopping on the Argos site, for example, you can click to reserve a particular product at the nearby store. Once you've entered your postal code, you'll have the option of clicking to have Shutl pick the item up and deliver it to your door in 90 minutes or less.

UK-based Shutl has been so successful at attracting customers that it's now planning to expand to a number of US cities, with investment from UPS. Shutl recently made it to the top of the Startups 2012 list (although it was founded in 2008).

Amazon UK offers evening delivery service for orders placed that day. In the US, Walmart is testing same-day delivery for the holiday season, and eBay has also tested same-day delivery.

More competition means more innovation and more choices for customers.