Last-mile fulfillment is the latest priority for retailers

The trend: Retailers are revamping their last-mile fulfillment strategies in an effort to meet consumer demand for rapid delivery and compete effectively with Amazon.

In the past year, Walmart has added new delivery options, leveraged its stores as fulfillment centers, and built a tech platform to power its last-mile ecosystem, per a company blog post.

Lowe’s recently teamed up with Instacart to offer same-day delivery.

Walgreens and 7-Eleven recently announced partnerships with Shipt, Target’s same-day delivery service, per a company release.

More on this: Amazon has completely transformed consumers’ expectations for delivery: Not only do shoppers now expect free delivery, they also want it to be fast—an issue many retailers have struggled with, particularly in less densely populated areas.