Dive Brief:

• Water Tower Place, the tony mall on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile shopping district, is offering same-day delivery to customers for $5.

• Chicago-based General Growth Properties, which owns malls in Chicago and California, in September also instituted same-service delivery via Palo Alto, CA-based Deliv at its four malls. 

• At a downtown mall like Water Tower in particular, the service allows shoppers to continue on their day, whether it’s back to work or out to dinner and the theater, without schlepping around bulky packages.

Dive Insight:

Providing mall-wide same-day delivery service at this price point could give Amazon, which is priding itself on providing speedy fulfillment options, plus all the other online retailers piling on, a run for their money. If consumers see the fee as reasonable and like the convenience it provides, it’s an efficient way for brick-and-mortar stores ensconced in malls to compete with e-commerce.