The news: Several companies are vying to capitalize on retailers’ need for faster, more flexible delivery.

• Walmart announced a “Prepaid Consolidation” supply chain feature meant to streamline supplier shipments to get products to stores—and ultimately shoppers—sooner.
• Instacart introduced delivery management software and upgraded its in-store order picking management software to better support enterprise clients earlier this month.
• Stord, which supplies brands with access to physical warehouses and inventory management software to better compete with Amazon, raised $250 million at a $3 billion valuation.
• FedEx launched a same-day delivery service earlier this year.

Why it matters: While most shoppers say that price outweighs convenience when deciding where to purchase, retailers fully understand the importance of the latter in lifting order frequency, loyalty, and lifetime value. Yet just 8% of brands are targeting same- or next-day delivery, according to ShipBob’s 2026 State of Ecommerce Fulfillment Report.

That has created an opening for Amazon and Walmart, which have already set the pace on faster fulfillment and are making quick delivery a consumer expectation: We expect the two retailers to capture over half of ecommerce sales this year for the first time, and their advantage will only deepen as consumers get used to the convenience of on-demand delivery.

As the delivery race heats up, more companies are promising to help brands close the gap. Amazon recently launched its Supply Chain Services offering, which retailers like Land’s End and American Eagle are using to fulfill orders, while Walmart is now leveraging its Spark network to deliver restaurant orders alongside packages from Home Depot, Sur La Table, and its own stores.

But startups like Stord are trying to benefit from brands’ reluctance to team up with their biggest competitors. Stord claims to offer companies the tools “to deliver a consumer experience that surpasses Prime”—a pitch that has enticed over 1,000 brands, including AG1, True Classic, Goodr, and Jolie, to let the company manage their direct-to-consumer businesses. However, building a viable logistics business—especially one that can rival Amazon—is easier said than done, as Shopify, American Eagle, and Gap Inc. can all attest.

Implications for retailers: Convenience doesn’t necessarily equate with faster delivery: Just 12% of consumers say that quick same-day delivery makes them more likely to shop with a given retailer, according to a January survey by McKinsey and ICSC. Rather than pushing speed across the board, retailers should offer a variety of delivery methods to ensure they can cater to different shopper needs. Amazon and Walmart are winning not only because they can get orders to customers’ doors in 30 minutes or less—but also due to the diversity of delivery services they offer, enabling them to cater to shoppers looking for instant gratification (and willing to pay extra for the privilege) as well as more price-sensitive consumers willing to wait longer for their purchases.