Argos to offer same-day home delivery service

The launch of the Fast Track delivery and Fast Track collection services are said to be possible due to improvements the British catalogue retailer has been making during the past two years.

Bryan Roberts, senior vice-president and knowledge officer at Kantar Retail, said: “Delivery has emerged as one of the key battlegrounds for United Kingdom retailers, to allow customers to shop how and when they want on the same day”.

‘But we believe Fast Track is the next big innovation and brings shopping into the digital age, allowing customers to get up to 20,000 products in their hands faster than ever before.

The retailer is offering four delivery time slots each day: 7-10am, 10am-1pm, 2-6pm and 7-10pm.

The Fast Track service will run seven days a week with around 20,000 products eligible for order. Marks & Spencer and the delivery company Yodel, which delivers for retailers including Amazon, Argos, Boots and Tesco Direct, also experienced problems after being overwhelmed with orders during the Black Friday discount weekend. That’s not quite as fast as Amazon’s one-hour Prime Now service, but nor does it require a yearly £70 subscription or a more expensive £6.99 per-order fee. Fast Track has been in testing for several months and the group said that customer reaction to the new home delivery service in particular was very positive.

‘Argos is showing its rivals a clean pair of heels with this new speedy nationwide service.

The store-based Fast Track service has reportedly led to the creation of almost 3,300 driver jobs, of which up to 1,000 are now being recruited for the festive season.

Argos has been quietly leading a retail revolution, both on and off the high street, with click-and-collect points at London Underground station, a partnership with eBay to let users pick up orders in store, and digital ordering stores inside Sainsbury’s branches.

‘While having the right offer at the right price will be crucial as ever this Christmas, there will also be a sprint finish on the nation’s roads to deliver the goods the same or next day’. While Amazon has just eight (albeit huge) fulfilment centres in the United Kingdom, Argos is spread as far and wide as Penzance, Anglesey and even the Outer Hebrides.