Everyone loves same-day delivery, until they have to pay

Amazon, of course, doesn’t have to pay for the cost of store upkeep, not counting its new bookstore in Seattle.

[...] it makes money from other non-retail areas, such as cloud computing, so it can afford to offer delivery services others can’t.

“Retailers trying to compete with Amazon on the road Amazon created will always be at a disadvantage,” said shipping industry expert Satish Jindel.

During the first Internet boom, startups like Kozmo.com became ubiquitous in New York as employees with purple messenger bags fanned out to deliver snacks and household goods.

[...] it didn’t make money, went bust, and became a cautionary tale for the future.

Driver routes are easier to track with smartphone GPS technology, more brick-and-mortar retailers are speeding delivery by using their stores as de facto warehouses, and more people are willing to work in an “on-demand” fashion popularized by Uber and service apps like TaskRabbit.

Craft-selling site Etsy is working with Postmates for a holiday season pilot program that will let some shoppers in New York City have items delivered within hours for a flat fee of $15.

Any small business within a certain geographic range in those areas can sign up for free and offer online customers same-day delivery for a fee.

Rob Howard, who runs same-day delivery provider Grand Junction Inc., said eBay Now’s business model, which paid drivers to enter retail stores, buy an item and deliver it, was “very high cost and unsustainable.”

Deliv, by contrast, works with retailers to have packages ready to go for drivers when they arrive.