Like it or not, the retail world has changed a lot since the turn of the latest century and much of it can be attributed to Amazon. One of the keystones of the online retailer is how easy it is to shop and how quickly it delivers products to its customers. Over the past few years, three- to five-day shipping has literally been whittled to next-day or even a matter of hours if customers ask for it.  

Delivery bridges the gap between local loyalty – consumers who want to shop locally – and the digital convenience of shopping online and having products delivered to their door. There are ways independent stores can boost business and earn new customers, too, by offering local delivery services.  

Setting the Standard

Amazon’s delivery service is second to none in the retail industry. Heck, in 2025 the company’s fulfillment costs, which include most of its internal shipping and logistics expenses, totaled $109 billion, up from $98.5 billion from 2024. That’s more than Lowe’s reported in annual revenue ($86 billion). And Amazon now offers one-hour delivery in hundreds of U.S. cities and 3-hour delivery in over 2,000 cities and towns. 

Big Business Trying to Keep Pace

Big-box competitors have hustled to keep pace. 

Walmart now offers one hour delivery as well as drone delivery in many selected markets, and it’s not done spending on delivery improvements. In January 2025, the company announced a $520 million investment in automation, robotics, and pickup-and-delivery fulfillment capabilities to speed its delivery options. 

Target teamed with and eventually bought Shipt to handle its delivery logistics. Orders are fulfilled through its stores to a network of over 300,000 shoppers in over 5,000 cities covering 80% of the country. 

Delivering the Hardware

In the hardware and building materials industry, Home Depot and Ace have been busy improving their customer service and local delivery offerings.  

The Home Depot delivers everything from nuts and bolts to heavy construction materials to home appliances after investing billions to expand its logistics and delivery infrastructure. Delivery options range from two-day to same day to either homes or jobsites. Appliance delivery can include haul-away of old appliances. Some of the products include:

Same-day delivery is available for products ordered before noon in selected markets.  

Ace, too, has been refining and deploying its local delivery for several years. Its own We Deliver program handles heavy lifting while third-party platforms like Uber Eats can deliver just about anything a store would carry. 

“Ace is built on a network of locally-owned stores that are deeply rooted in the communities they serve, and partnering with Uber allows us to meet our customers wherever they are,” said Bill Kiss, Head of Digital at Ace Hardware announcing the Uber Eats connection. “Whether they’re tackling a last-minute project or planning ahead, our customers now have greater access to fast, flexible solutions for getting the products they need delivered right to their doorstep.” 

Roadie – a UPS company, so consider the source – reports that businesses offering same-day delivery saw: 

Small Business Taking it Home

Small and independent retail business owners might be thinking, “Yeah, sure. How do I compete with that?”  

Part of the answer is that small businesses have been offering home delivery for decades. People of a certain age should all remember when local dairies delivered farm-fresh milk in reusable glass bottles and eggs to their doorsteps and, in some cases, all the way into their refrigerators.  

Pizza deliveries are certainly nothing new, and many companies like Domino’s, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s build their business models around home delivery with many of their stores not even offering an eat-in option.  

Local delivery isn’t just for food, either. Auto parts stores have couriered parts to local garages and mechanics for decades.  Medical facilities and pharmacies both rely on and supply health providers and in some cases customers. 

Delivering Customer Satisfaction

Once considered optional, delivery is now mainstream: about 65% of limited-service restaurants offer delivery, and nearly three‑quarters of all restaurant traffic happens off premises, driven by takeout, drive thru, and delivery demand. 

The proliferation of services such as Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats, shows the popularity of home delivery, and they offer small, independent restaurants the tools to compete with franchises in local delivery options.  

CapitalOne Shopping reports that 80% of U.S. consumers now expect retailers to offer same-day delivery and 41% will pay extra to get it. 

Local Delivery Options

FedEx, UPS, DHL and the U.S. Postal Service are the Mount Rushmore of product shipping companies. Most offer some form of next-day or same-day delivery for either e-commerce or retailers in major metropolitan areas.  

Companies such as Uber Eats, DoorDash and Instacart now deliver far more than fast food, giving many businesses access to local delivery services. 

This gives small independent businesses the ability to offer: 

When close to 70% of shoppers are more likely to buy when delivery is available, the ability to fulfill those expectations results in extra sales and happy customers. 

In a recent report from DoorDash (also consider the source) – Economic Impact Report – 90% of merchants said delivery services have helped them reach new consumers they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to reach, and 85% of consumers said DoorDash makes it easier to support local businesses. 

Do it Yourself

Some independent retailers – those in rural areas or with fewer delivery demands – might be better off taking their own road when it comes to offering local delivery. The first step is gauging demand. Many neighborhood businesses might have a hard time justifying the investment.  

Building your own system can work if you have: 

What is needed for DIY delivery?  

Independent businesses can enhance their inventory management and local delivery services with retail platforms that offer mobile delivery features. Paladin Data Corporation® offers Paladin Point of Sale™ paired with PaladinGo™ to give stores the ability to complete sales, access inventory, and look up products to provide purchase recommendations outside the traditional sales floor. It also allows stores to schedule deliveries, track shipments, and collect customer signatures on mobile devices. All the transactions run through the store’s database, providing real-time views of products in transit and in stock.  

Delivery Success

Pairing comprehensive point-of-sale systems with mobile capabilities gives stores the ability to add deliver services and manage them. Visit Paladin Point of Sale or call 800-725-2346 to learn how PaladinPOS and PaladinGo can help you deliver higher satisfaction to your customers.