Providing same-day delivery is expensive. But it boosts multiple financial outcomes, including a solid return on investment, according to a recent survey of 150 industry leaders whose organizations offer same-day delivery, conducted by crowdsourced, last-mile delivery company Roadie. 

Same-day should never be the only, or even the default delivery option, but it should be in the mix, along with less rapid but accurately predicted deliveries, says Marc Gorlin, founder and chief executive officer of Roadie. “It’s not like any of these is a silver bullet,” he says. “Same-day is just part of a menu of things you need to have – the chicken fingers on the kid’s menu.” 

Roadie and Supply Chain Dive compiled the findings in the research report, "Is Same Day Delivery Worth the Hype?" It  provides an overview of the benefits and challenges associated with implementing the service. The report found that nearly one-third of retailers reported an increase in revenue of more than 10%. Primary benefits cited by executives were higher customer satisfaction (80%), an increase in sales (70%) and improved customer retention rates (66%).  

Most companies that offer same-day delivery have done so for three years or more (63%), and 68% found their same-day delivery ROI trends consistently upward year-over-year. 

“It’s nice to hear retailers come back and tell us what we’ve been telling them for a while, once they had the chance to measure it internally,” Gorlin says. “They’re finding not just value in terms of optionality, but also ROI.” 

Survey respondents said that other, softer benefits include gaining insights that improve decisions about product and service offerings (65%), expansion of same-day delivery to new regions (59%), utilization of warehouse space (54%), siting of distribution facilities (51%), logistics investments (45%) and labor (37%). 

Retailers should not, however, be tempted to think that offering same-day delivery lets them off the hook when it comes to good, frequent communication about shipment status. Gorlin cites issues such as “porch piracy” — the theft of packages sitting outside residences — as driving demand by customers for knowing exactly when their orders will arrive, however long they took to get there. “It's super helpful to have more frequent communications, but it would be better if they could customize it to you,” Gorlin says. He argues that deliveries of even large items such as sofas and refrigerators should be little different from ordering a pizza or an Uber, where you can track the driver’s progress toward your home in near-real time. 

That way, there’s less chance of a failed delivery, which eats into pure profit with no upside. “Everything you can do to make the delivery more successful is good to do,” Gorlin says.  

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He argues that the long-term, strategic benefits of same-day delivery offset the typical six-figure cost of setting it up. “Whatever that upfront cost is, you get payback, and the ROI goes on for a long time," Gorlin says. "Plus, you’re serving the customer better. Different people have different requirements for delivery, even on different orders. So same-day or one-day needs to be an option.”