Hardline/Broadline/Food Retail: Hey Agent, Which Retailer Can Deliver My Order the Fastest?

Research evidence excerpt

Hardline/Broadline/Food Retail: Hey Agent, Which Retailer Can Deliver My Order the Fastest?

FoundationM

Executive Summary

Speed is a critical axis of retail competition as consumers increasingly expect

fulfillment “on demand,” particularly for immediate-need purchases. This shift is likely

to be reinforced by the rise of agentic commerce, where automated shopping decisions

may use speed and reliability as important variables. In this context, even marginal

improvements in delivery time can drive disproportionate gains in conversion and loyalty,

effectively raising the bar for service levels across the industry. Against this backdrop, we

conducted a test-and-learn analysis to systematically measure and rank delivery speed

across retailers, with the goal of benchmarking relative performance.

Exhibit 2: Speed is a key differentiator in delivery

Source: Morgan Stanley Research

In Food Retail, AMZN Now, KR, ACI, and WMT screened as the fastest operators, while

in Hardlines, mass retailers (WMT, TGT, and AMZN) consistently outperformed

specialty retailers. AMZN Now produced the fastest delivery times in our analysis (avg.

~25 min), though availability remains limited to select markets and a narrower assortment.

KR (~40 min. in core markets) and ACI (~47 min. in core markets) also screened

competitively where local store density is strongest. WMT delivered consistently

competitive performance across markets (avg. ~48 min.), supported by its ability to

leverage ~3,500+ Supercenters as local fulfillment nodes and maintain broad product

availability. In Hardlines, we find the mass retailers WMT, TGT, and AMZN consistently

outperform specialty retailers, with the former often delivering within 1-3 hours versus the

latter often delivering between several hours and several days.