Is there a tougher position within a retail business than a logistics decision-maker? And has there ever been a harder time to hold that role than today?

In 2026, logistics leaders face an impossible brief: deliver Amazon-level speed without Amazon-level budgets.

Consumers demand fast, reliable delivery and are loyal to the brands that offer it. In fact, retailers say delivery speed has the greatest impact on conversions and long-term loyalty.

‘Well obviously’ would be the response from most logistics leads, who would argue that speed costs money that most retailers don’t have. Shippit research confirms this tension, showing that inflation and cost management is the top concern for 46.5% of retailers.

So the question that logistics leaders wrestle with daily is: “How can we deliver the speed consumers demand, whilst keeping it financially sustainable?”

However, in 2026, you don’t have to choose. In this week’s Delivered, we explore how retailers can balance speed with cost, without sacrificing either.

TL;DR

• Same-day delivery has almost halved in cost since 2018; making speed commercially viable for retailers that deploy it strategically
• Fulfilment is the biggest bottleneck to speed, but through a focus on culture and accountability, retailers can improve delivery speeds without sacrificing margin
• By understanding when and where speed is a non-negotiable, improving inventory visibility and optimising carrier selection, retailers can balance speed with cost

The cost gap between same-day and standard delivery is shrinking - fast

For years, fast delivery meant expensive delivery. Same-day shipping required dedicated courier networks, premium carrier rates, and operational complexity that only the biggest retailers could afford.

In 2018, same-day delivery ($31) cost $22 more than standard delivery ($9). But today, the gulf between same-day ($17.39) and standard ($10.39) has contracted to just $7.

What changed?

Quite simply, Amazon’s arrival in 2018 has entirely changed our delivery expectations. And tolerance.

Today, 51% of Gen Z Aussies say their expectations have risen as a direct result of Amazon, while two thirds of all consumers wouldn’t return to a brand after a poor delivery experience.

As the Amazon-induced demand for same- and next-day delivery surges, it has created the carrier density needed to make fast delivery economically viable. More parcels to the same suburbs on the same day reduces cost per delivery.

Speed is now commercially viable at scale, but only for retailers with the data, processes and mindset to deploy it intelligently.

Is culture the secret to fulfilment success?

The gap between the average delivery promise (5.2 days) and actual performance (1.7 days) is one of retail's biggest conversion killers.

That means faster delivery doesn’t start on the roads, it starts in warehouses, distribution centres (DCs) and shop floors.

When decision-makers think about improving fulfilment, the instinct is to look at:

• Better warehouse management systems
• More automation
• Faster carrier partnerships

These investments matter, but they overlook a critical component: culture.

There's a growing gap between retailers that have operationalised store fulfilment (orders picked in minutes or hours, not days) and those struggling with training, speed, and a culture where fulfilment isn't a priority.

Fast fulfilment is the difference between an order that takes 1.7 days and one that takes 5.2.

Leading retailers like Baby Bunting understand that. For it, a parent ordering nappies for next-day delivery is just as important as one browsing the aisles.

That mindset saw Baby Bunting increase its CSAT and generate growth in its loyalty members, whilst making faster delivery cost-effective.

Two-day pick and pack ruins fast delivery promises

You can't promise same- or next-day delivery if your stores take two days to pick and pack an item.

Many retailers have invested in order management systems that intelligently route orders to the closest store.

But then the order sits in a queue for 18, 24, 36 hours because the store team doesn't have clear ownership or measurable targets.

That gap matters. Retailers offering same- or next-day delivery outperformed peers by 3.5–4% during the 2025 Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend.

Closing it requires cultural accountability at a store and warehouse level:

• Clear ownership at store level
• Real-time visibility of inventory and performance
• Incentives aligned to delivery outcomes
• Leadership that reinforces why speed matters.

Faster fulfilment improves delivery speed and lowers cost. When stores pick and pack orders in minutes rather than days, retailers can ship from the closest store and allocate the optimal carrier.

That means they deliver to customers sooner - increasing conversions, CSAT and LTV - and don’t have to pay for express freight to compensate for internal delays.

So culture doesn't just enable speed, it makes speed affordable.

With that foundation in place, here's how to deploy speed without destroying your margins.

How to deliver fast, without blowing your budget: 3 ways to make it work

1. Identify which customers and orders require fast delivery

Not every customer values speed the same, and not every order can afford it from a margin perspective. The key is identifying where fast delivery is needed and has measurable returns.

By tracking customer behaviour across delivery options, Petbarn found that customers who chose two-hour delivery didn't just receive orders faster, they spent 3.5x more per order and shopped 35% more frequently than standard delivery customers.

Someone ordering pet food or medication has a genuine need for speed and demonstrates higher lifetime value. That ROI equation makes fast delivery sustainable: the customer values it enough to spend more, which covers any additional fast delivery cost.

For other customers or products, consistency is more important than speed. That t-shirt or book probably isn’t urgent; here it isn't about speed at all costs, it's about delivering exactly what you promise, reliably.

When deciding:

• Analyse spending patterns by delivery option: Do customers who choose fast delivery have higher average order values or lifetime value?
• Segment by product category: Pet food, baby products, and medication have time-sensitive demand. Fashion, books, homewares probably don't.
• Calculate the true cost: What's your margin on a $50 order? Can you absorb a few more dollars for delivery if it drives repeat purchases?

2. Leverage local inventory to reduce distance and cost

The volume of orders fulfilled from within 15km of the recipient increased from 10% in 2022 to 15% in recent years. That means retailers are getting smarter about fulfilling from the closest available location.

Route an order from a store 8km away instead of a DC 100km away and you've cut delivery time and reduced freight costs. But this only works if inventory accuracy is good enough to trust store stock levels.

Many retailers cannot determine where stock sits until after an order is placed, leading to expensive split-order shipments, inconsistent ETAs, and margin erosion. Retailers should:

• Implement real-time scanning at store level: Every sale, return, and stock movement updates the system immediately, not an end-of-day batch processing
• Adopt RFID technology: Radio frequency identification ensures physical stock matches digital data, eliminating the (often significant) discrepancy retailers experience between system records and actual stock
• Conduct regular cycle counts: Weekly checks on fastest-moving SKUs catch discrepancies before they cause stockouts or overselling.

3. Optimise carrier selection by lane, not by default

During peak, delivery reliability amongst high-volume carriers rose from 90.5% to 93.7% YoY. But retailers aren't competing on reliability alone anymore - the battleground has shifted to speed, cost, experience, and flexibility.

The key is building automated rules that match freight profiles to appropriate service levels. A $200 order to metro Sydney needs a different service level than a $15 order to regional Queensland.

When these decisions are automated based on value, destination, and freight type, retailers streamline the process, remove the guesswork and the margin bleed.

The retailers doing this well have lower delivery costs - like Freedom Furniture, which has cut freight costs by 20% - than those that default to a single carrier, whilst maintaining higher customer satisfaction.

What logistics leaders need to do now

With customers demanding speed like never before and Amazon, Temu and Shein forecast to command over a third of Australian ecommerce in 2026, retailers are competing for a more contested share of a shrinking market.

The window for logistics leaders is closing. Here's your fast delivery action plan:

• Audit your fulfilment culture: Do store teams have clear KPIs for fulfilment speed? Is online fulfilment prioritised alongside in-store sales?
• Map customer segments to delivery economics: Which customers demonstrate higher lifetime value when given fast delivery? Where are you offering speed for customers who don't value it?
• Fix inventory visibility: Can you accurately show stock availability at checkout? How often do actual stock levels differ from system data?
• Build carrier optionality: Do you have automated rules for carrier selection by value, destination, and freight type?
• Measure what matters: Promise accuracy, fulfilment speed by location, delivery cost as percentage of order value, customer lifetime value by delivery option.

Speed and cost were once enemies. But with the right strategy, they’re becoming allies in building the delivery experience that drives loyalty, protects margins, and creates sustainable competitive advantage.