Amazon's Prime Delivery Hits New Speed Record

Amazon's Prime delivery has set a new speed record, processing over two billion items for same-day or next-day delivery in the first quarter of 2024. This includes a notable 60% of orders delivered within this timeframe in major U.S. cities and significant efficiencies in global cities like London, Tokyo, and Toronto.

Amazon Prime launched in the U.S. in 2005 with free Two-Day Shipping on one million items. Today, Prime members enjoy free shipping on over 300 million items, including tens of millions available with Same-Day or One-Day Delivery.

This represents a more than 20-fold increase in product selection with significantly faster delivery times compared to Prime's initial offerings. From specific brands of running socks to soundbars and travel essentials, Prime members can find a vast and growing selection of products at various price points, all delivered quickly and at no additional cost.

Beyond its own offerings, Amazon collaborates with independent sellers, small businesses, and popular and premium brands. This includes partnerships with U-Simply Season, Bubble-Blooms, Gifts Fulfilled, Dyson, Levi's, Stanley, Clinique, Coach, and Peloton.

Shein, Forever 21 Partner on In-Store Hassle-Free Return Solution

Shein is leveraging Happy Return’s BORIS solution by partnering with Authentic Brands Group’s Forever 21. It means shoppers have the convenience of “hassle-free” in-store returns across Forever 21’s network of over 300 continental US stores.

Forever 21 CEO Winnie Park said once Shein shoppers complete their return, the brand will offer a same-day discount on their next Forever 21 purchase. She said: “Forever 21 is looking forward to offering an easy customer experience for Shein shoppers looking to return their items while also introducing our brand to an even broader audience.”

While, Shein US president George Chiao shared the brand is always looking for new ways to optimise the shopping experience for customers – from speedier delivery to easy returns. Happy Returns explained its BORIS solution is aimed at enabling enterprise retailers to accept box-free, label-free returns and exchanges across their full store network.

It is hoped this will help retailers increase customer satisfaction, decrease return costs and drive follow-on purchases. The system includes several software and reverse logistics components which the company believes can be easily adapted to successfully serve a wide range of customer needs and configurations.

Mytheresa Aims to Be ‘Winner’ of Luxury eCommerce Downturn

If the luxury eCommerce space is tumbling down, Mytheresa plans to come out on top. “I think there is an understanding in the market that the industry is consolidating, and that there are some winners and some losers,” Michael Kliger, the company’s CEO, told the Financial Times (FT) Sunday (May 5). “We believe, and the stock market certainly believes, that we are one of the winners.”

The report said the Germany company — which is listed in New York — has seen its stock jump more than 30% this year. While its market value — $362 million — is down sharply from the $2.3 billion it reached when going public three years ago, the FT argued that’s an indication of where investors are putting their bets.

“The valuation we received [at IPO] was sumptuous, generous, maybe was overrated?…?then we went into a situation where eCommerce started to become a bad word,” Kliger said. Following a difficult year for both eCommerce firms and the luxury sector, Mytheresa is “pivoting?…?as a company for sure and as a sector, I have confidence as well,” he added.

Meanwhile, the company’s rivals have struggled. Farfetch was sold to Korean online retailer Coupang in order to escape bankruptcy, while Matchesfashion was put into administration by Frasers Group in March just three months after it was acquired. Another luxury group, Richemont, has spent years trying to offload its online retail division Yoox-Net-a-Porter.