Retailers speed up deliveries to shoppers

They’re also sending orders directly from their stores and using sophisticated software that tells them the quickest, cheapest way to ship.

U.S. online sales are expected to increase 12 percent to $371 billion this year, accounting for 10 percent of overall sales, says Forrester Research.

Brick-and-mortar stores are trying to catch up to Amazon.com, which set the standard for speed with its two-day delivery for members of its Prime loyalty program who pay $99 a year.

For many retailers, the goal to meet the demands of shoppers like Early is to make two-day delivery standard.

[...] Walmart is spending to stay competitive.

Since last year, it has opened warehouses across the country in Bethlehem, Pa.; Fort Worth, Texas; Plainfield, Ind.; and Atlanta to handle online orders.

Target said online shoppers are likely to get deliveries within two days if the product is delivered from the store, compared with four days from the warehouse.

“You know our friends in Seattle continue to set the standard,” Mike Koppel, Nordstrom’s chief financial officer, told investors in September, referring to Amazon.

The robots pull shelves of goods out of storage areas and bring them to workers.

“We’re using software and algorithms to make decisions rather than people, which we think is more efficient and scales better and will be more accurate,” Amazon’s chief financial officer, Brian Olsavsky, said in July.