Amazon.com has made same-day delivery a reality for big city customers within driving distance of their distribution warehouses.

As the list of cities on Amazon’s list expands and other big names like eBay and Google join the ranks of companies with same-day fulfillment services, it’s not much of a leap to imagine a world where same-day delivery is an option for everyone everywhere.

Logistics of Same-Day Fulfillment Services

Customers have spoken and they say they’re willing to pay more and respect ordering cut-off times in order to get same-day delivery. Plenty of companies have answered the call and continue to expand their offerings to more metro areas, but to realize universal same-day order fulfillment, it’s going to take a lot more infrastructure and distribution warehouses than are currently online. This is where small businesses can still gain a toe-hold when retail giants seem to be gobbling up every available customer.

As it turns out, about 90 percent of the customers of any brick-and-mortar store are located within five miles of the building. That’s incredible, if you think about it. How long does it take to go five miles in your town — maybe 10 minutes, 20 in heavy traffic?  That means that you could theoretically make a sale and deliver the item to your customer before the pizza man makes it to the door to deliver a deep dish with extra cheese.

Same-day fulfillment may not be necessary today, but the day of customers wanting everything now and delivered at their doorstep, even in rural Wyoming, is coming. Even if your customers would prefer to come into the shop to pick out their groceries, their electronics, their pens and desk accessories, they’re under increasing pressure to do more in the same 24 hours they’ve always had — and that means same-day delivery will become a vital facet of any business.

Setting Up Same-Day Deliveries

There are no guarantees about future trends, but you can be pretty sure that anything that saves time and provides practically instant gratitude is going to eventually be all the rage. A small business owner may think he can’t compete in this world, especially with all the talk about Amazon and Google crushing little stores under their giant footprint, but there’s always a place for the little guy.

All you need to make it work is a high-tech ecommerce order management system or a fulfillment services provider who houses your stock and can really move. You may legitimately not have the warehouse space or manpower to offer delivery services, but you don’t have to go it alone. There are many companies that specialize in fulfillment and warehousing that can help you keep your edge. By hiring a fulfillment specialist, you can offer same-day service, just the same as the big guys.