eBay acquires Shutl, plans to expand same-day delivery to 25 cities
In an effort to expand its same-day delivery service to cities across the country (and across the pond), e-commerce giant eBay has snapped up London-based startup Shutl. — At a New York press conference on Tuesday …
Context & Ripple Effects
eBay began building eBay Now with its 2012 same-day shipping launch, then paired UK delivery expansion with Click & Collect pickup at retail stores in September 2013. Buying Shutl shifts the effort from testing delivery options toward owning logistics capability as eBay targets a wider city footprint.
First-order effects
- eBay gains Shutl's London-based same-day delivery operation and plans to use it to extend same-day service to 25 cities.
- Shutl becomes part of eBay's delivery strategy, while eBay shoppers in the planned markets gain access to a faster fulfillment option.
Second-order effects
- eBay can combine same-day delivery with its Click & Collect offering, making speed and pickup convenience parallel ways to win transactions from local retail inventory.
- Amazon's locker-based pickup proposition faces a more direct eBay response across both collection and rapid delivery, rather than pickup alone.
Third-order effects
- If eBay can replicate Shutl's model across its target cities, marketplace competition shifts further from listing selection toward control of the last-mile delivery experience.
- Acquisition becomes a route for marketplaces to add operational logistics capabilities that are difficult to build market by market.
The trend: E-commerce marketplaces are extending beyond online matching into fulfillment and last-mile services that determine how quickly buyers receive goods.