From Our Print Edition

The debate rages on. Here are thoughts from the experts at RetailWire.com

RetailWire.com asked its panel of experts to comment on last month’s cover story on home delivery. Denise Leathers, our editorial director, had presented

January / February

the pros and cons of all sides in her story, and the jury is out on which long-term strategy is best.

Except for the largest chains, going in-house is difficult considering everything else that needs attention. Third-party is expensive, and you can lose control of data and the customer experience. Hybrid, where store associates do the picking and third parties handle the delivery, is another option gaining traction.

A RetailWire poll of its readers think that, in 10 years, 45% of retailers will handle delivery in-house, 45% will use a hybrid model and only 9% will use third parties entirely. Here is a sampling of what RetailWire’s Braintrust panelists think. Comments have been edited for length.

—There isn’t significant long-term profitability in the delivery business. Leaving it out of house is likely the better choice.

—Because of all the issues grocers are facing right now there may not be the bandwidth for grocers to do this well.

—The hybrid model seems the most effective. When people who work in the stores do the shopping, results are better than orders picked by gig shoppers who are built for speed. At that point, the impact of “hybrid” home delivery on store operations is basically the same as BOPIS (buy online, pick up in store), which is more manageable.

—Grocers are inbound, not outbound supply chain specialists. Right now the inbound isn’t going so well either so I would put plans to do their own delivery on hold and let the pros do it. When I can actually get cream cheese consistently, and the shelves don’t have weird holes where products are supposed to be, then they can think about their outbound supply chain.

—I could never agree to hand over control of my brand relationships to gig-workers employed by a company that is angling to become my competitor.