Dive Brief:
-
EBay has pulled its same-day delivery service, eBay Now, from the App Store, and is folding the service into its own website and app.
-
The online marketplace is re-evaluating the costs of same-day delivery, for which it charges $5 in the Bay Area, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Chicago, and Dallas. Plans for further expansion of the service have been canceled.
-
Home Depot, Target, Macy’s, Walgreens, and Best Buy were among the retailers that partnered with eBay Now.
Dive Insight:
EBay CEO John Donahoe told media outlets that same-day delivery was a consumer demand mainly for groceries, which he said is not a “sweet spot” for eBay. Buying online and picking up in store — “click and collect” — is more what is desired for non-grocery items, according to Donahoe.
Indeed, many studies have shown that same-day delivery, or super-fast delivery in general, is not a high priority for most consumers, at least not compared to free or low-cost shipping. Is this a development limited to eBay, or could it mean that same-day delivery itself has an iffy future?
