Amazon Australia went live this morning, promising a comprehensive retail offering and speedy delivery right off the bat. But are incumbent retailers still ahead of the game when it comes to near-instant delivery options?
The global retailer is known for its low-cost, high-speed delivery, compressing that “last mile” before a purchase reaches its buyer. However, despite amping things up much faster than expected with its Australian launch, Amazon will not be offering immediate, nation-wide next-day delivery services.
Instead its fastest option for consumers this Christmas is a $9.95 option available to customers in major Australian cities to receive their goods the day after they order.
This sounds impressive, but a quick review of what some of Australia’s more established retailers are already offering customers reveals they may be further ahead in the near-instant delivery stakes than many expected.
At this stage, Amazon looks to have beaten out many incumbents on price for delivery, not seeming to be bound by the size or weight of items when calculating delivery fees.
However, when it comes to the time frames, some bricks-and-mortar stores can bring online purchases to your door quicker than Amazon. Harvey Norman, a retailer that has promised for months to beat Amazon on price and logistics, can get purchases to customers within hours, while electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi and department store Myer promise similar deals.
So how does Amazon’s postage offers stack up against other retailers? Here are some comparisons.
| Retailer | Same day | Next Day | Express | Standard |
| Amazon Australia | N/A | To Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra for $9.95 | 2-3 business days for $5.99 – $7.99, depending on location | 3-7 days, Free for purchases over $49 |
| Myer | To metro areas,$14.95, if ordered before 12pm. | To metro areas, $12.95, if ordered before 12pm | N/A | 7-10 business days, $9.95 Free for purchases over $99.95 |
| David Jones | Sydney only, $15 | To metro areas, $12.95 if ordered by 4pm | N/A | 3-7 business days, $10 Free for purchases over $100 |
| Big W | N/A | N/A | N/A | 6-11 business days, $9.95 – $15.90 |
| Target Australia | N/A | To metro areas for $6 on clothing purchases of $100 and over |
N/A | 3-14 business days, depending on location, $9 for orders under $80 |
| Kmart Australia | N/A | N/A | N/A | 3-7 business days, $10 metro, $14 country |
| Adore Beauty | Melbourne only, $11.95 |
N/A | 1-3 business days, $6.95 Free on orders over $50 |
5-7 working days, Free |
| Peter Alexander | To metro areas, $14.95 | N/A | 3-7 business days, $9.95 | |
| Yellow Octopus | Melbourne only, $19.99 | N/A | 1-3 business days, $16.99 | 3-8 business days, $7.99 for orders under $99 |
| Sportsgirl | N/A | N/A | N/A | 3-5 business days, $10 for orders under $50 |
| Uniqlo Australia | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1-10 business days, parcel post Free over $50, or $5.95 |
| Harvey Norman | To metro areas within three hours, price dependent on order |
N/A | N/A | 2-4 business days, Price dependent on order |
| JB Hi-Fi | Three hour “rush” to metro areas, $14.99 |
N/A | 2-4 business days, from $4.99 – $8.99 | 4-10 business days, $1.69 per unit of movies, games etc |
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