24-Hour Delivery: 5 Reasons to Embrace Proximity (and Abandon the Amazon Model)
Fast delivery? Yes, but through proximity!
In a world where every second counts, the promise of 24-hour delivery has become retail’s Holy Grail. But at what cost? While e-commerce giants have conditioned us to receive packages before we’ve had time to regret our impulse purchases, a silent revolution is taking place in the backrooms of our local shops. What if the true logistics innovation wasn’t coming from massive warehouses on the outskirts, but from our city centers? What if the solution for faster, greener, and more human delivery was hiding in plain sight, in thousands of physical stores that blanket our territories?
This article explains why proximity is the key to truly sustainable rapid delivery, and how your business can transform this opportunity into a decisive competitive advantage.
Express Delivery: From Luxury to Expectation
73% of consumers want 24-hour delivery: how did we get here?
Remember when waiting a week for a package was perfectly normal? Today, it’s almost heresy. According to a January 2024 OpinionWay study, 73% of French consumers consider delivery within 24 hours a determining factor in their purchasing decisions. Even more striking: 38% abandon their shopping carts if delivery takes longer than 48 hours.
This shift in expectations didn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of methodical conditioning orchestrated by e-commerce giants, Amazon leading the charge. By promising ever-shorter timeframes, they’ve created a new standard that all retail players must now follow, whether they want to or not. The problem? This relentless race to immediacy has created a fragile economic model based on a massive, expensive logistics infrastructure.
“We’ve created monsters of impatience,” a national retail chain’s logistics director recently confided. “Our customers want everything immediately, without understanding the ecological and economic implications of this demand.”
Yet consumers aren’t completely blind. Kantar’s March 2024 study reveals that 67% of shoppers say they’re willing to wait longer if delivery is more environmentally friendly—a paradox perfectly illustrating the modern consumer’s dilemma: torn between their desire for immediacy and their ecological conscience.
The limitations of the Amazon model: logistics costs, environmental impact, growing dissatisfaction
The Amazon model, both admired and copied, is showing its limitations. Economically first: did you know that logistics costs represent an average of 25% of an express-delivered product’s price? Margins sacrificed on the altar of speed—a luxury few retailers can afford.
Next, the environmental impact is considerable. A February 2024 ADEME report estimates that express delivery generates 2.5 times more CO2 emissions than standard delivery. Why? Half-empty trucks, multiplied delivery routes, frequent returns… The carbon footprint grows heavier as delivery times shorten.
Perhaps most surprising is growing consumer dissatisfaction with this model. According to the 2024 FEVAD barometer:
- 41% of online shoppers complain about damaged or lost packages
- 37% bemoan delays despite promises of speed
- 52% regret the lack of human interaction in the purchasing process
The Amazon model also carries a significant social cost: precarious logistics jobs, desertification of city centers, commercial standardization… All negative externalities that don’t appear in financial reports but weigh heavily on society.
Proximity: Strategic Lever for More Human and Efficient Logistics
Revitalizing city centers: when physical stores become delivery hubs
What if the solution was right before our eyes? Our city centers are filled with physical stores that, beyond their traditional commercial function, can become genuine local logistics hubs—an obvious fact that has nevertheless escaped many retail players.
Consider a concrete example: a national clothing brand typically has 150 stores distributed across France. Each store has inventory, qualified staff, and intimate knowledge of its catchment area. By transforming these shops into mini-distribution centers, this brand can theoretically deliver to 85% of the French population in less than 4 hours—a performance no centralized warehouse can match!
This “augmented commerce” approach offers three key advantages:
- Drastic reduction in delivery times (from 24-48h to 2-4h)
- Decreased carbon footprint (short-circuit delivery)
- Enhanced value for in-store personnel (new skills, diversified tasks)
McKinsey’s “Future of Retail 2025” study published in January confirms this trend: brands adopting this hybrid model have reduced logistics costs by 18% on average while improving their Net Promoter Score by 12 points.
Click & collect, ship-from-store, dark stores: concrete solutions bringing products closer to customers
How can this proximity strategy be implemented? Three complementary models are available to retailers:
- Click & collect: The ideal entry point to omnichannel. Simple to implement, it generates in-store traffic while offering a seamless customer experience. According to the 2024 Unified Commerce Observatory, 64% of consumers who pick up a click & collect order make an additional purchase—a cross-selling opportunity pure e-commerce players can only envy!
- Ship-from-store: The natural evolution of click & collect. It involves shipping directly from the store to the customer’s home, leveraging in-store inventory, optimizing delivery times, and reducing carbon footprint. A ship-from-store delivery emits on average 2.3 times less CO2 than delivery from a centralized warehouse.
- Dark stores: A hybrid solution suited to dense urban areas. These stores are closed to the public but optimized for order preparation, reconciling proximity with operational efficiency. Halfway between traditional shops and warehouses, they offer unparalleled logistics agility.
Wishibam: The Sovereign Ally for Digitalizing Without Dehumanizing
An omnichannel platform designed for territories, not against them
Wishibam has developed a unique approach: an omnichannel platform that places proximity at the heart of its vision. Unlike traditional e-commerce solutions that often pit digital against physical, our technology reconciles them by creating bridges between these two worlds.
Our platform allows retailers of all sizes to transform each point of sale into a local logistics hub through a unified information system synchronizing inventory, orders, and deliveries in real-time. No more headaches with disparate systems that don’t communicate!
What fundamentally distinguishes our approach is its territorial dimension. Where e-commerce giants impose a standardized, deterritorialized model, Wishibam values local specificities and adapts to existing commercial ecosystems. We don’t create a parallel system—we amplify the efficiency of infrastructure already in place.
Our technology isn’t just a technical tool—it’s a societal project. By enabling physical stores to compete with e-commerce pure players, we help maintain vibrant city centers, preserve local employment, and reduce commerce’s environmental impact.
Retailer testimonials: “Thanks to Wishibam, we deliver faster, sell more, and stay local”
The numbers are telling, but nothing beats the feedback from those who’ve taken the leap. Here’s what our retail partners say:
Sophie D., director of a home décor brand (42 stores): “Before Wishibam, our in-store inventory was a burden. Today, it’s become our main competitive advantage. We deliver 76% of our orders in less than 4 hours, while our competitors promise 24-48 hours. And most incredibly? Our salespeople love this new ‘order preparer’ role that showcases their product expertise.”
Marc L., independent bookstore owner: “I thought e-commerce was reserved for large groups. With Wishibam, I’ve been able to digitalize my offerings without losing my soul. Even better: 32% of customers who order online end up coming to the store. Digital doesn’t kill proximity—it strengthens it!”
Galeries Lafayette Group: “Deploying Wishibam’s ship-from-store solution has accelerated our omnichannel transformation. In 6 months, we’ve tripled our express delivery capacity while reducing logistics costs by 22%. A textbook case of successful digitalization.”
Conclusion: Proximity, Key to Fast and Sustainable Delivery
The frenzied race for express delivery has created an unsustainable economic and environmental model. The good news? An alternative exists, and it’s right before our eyes: our local shops. By transforming each point of sale into a local logistics hub, we can create a delivery system that’s simultaneously faster, greener, and more human.
This proximity revolution isn’t a utopia—it’s an economic reality we’re building daily with our retail partners. The numbers speak for themselves: reduced delivery times, decreased carbon footprint, increased customer satisfaction… Proximity isn’t just an ethical choice; it’s also a decisive competitive advantage.
At Wishibam, we’re convinced that retail’s future doesn’t lie in the sterile opposition between physical and digital, but in their intelligent reconciliation. Our mission is to support this transformation by providing retailers with technological tools that allow them to digitalize without dehumanizing, to accelerate without uprooting.
Ready to join the proximity revolution?
FAQ: Fast Delivery Through Proximity
What is proximity delivery and how does it differ from traditional models?
Proximity delivery uses physical stores as local logistics hubs, unlike traditional models relying on centralized warehouses. It enables shorter timeframes (often under 4 hours), reduced carbon footprint, and more personalized customer experiences.
What are the economic benefits of ship-from-store for retailers?
Ship-from-store leverages existing in-store inventory, reduces logistics costs (18% on average), optimizes staff utilization during slow periods, and increases online sales conversion rates through shorter delivery times.
How can an effective proximity delivery strategy be implemented?
Implementation involves three key steps: 1) Unifying inventory visibility between stores and e-commerce, 2) Training in-store teams in new logistics skills, 3) Deploying a technology solution like Wishibam that orchestrates the entire omnichannel process.
What is the environmental impact of proximity delivery compared to centralized models?
A delivery from a local store emits on average 2.3 times less CO2 than delivery from a centralized warehouse. This reduction comes from shorter distances traveled, possible use of sustainable delivery methods (bicycle, walking), and optimized routes in dense urban areas.
Is proximity delivery suitable for all types of businesses?
Proximity delivery is particularly relevant for fashion, beauty, food, and cultural products sectors. For bulky or highly technical products, adaptations are necessary, such as specialized dark stores or partnerships between complementary brands.
How does Wishibam concretely help retailers implement a proximity delivery strategy?
Wishibam provides a comprehensive technology platform that synchronizes inventory, manages omnichannel orders, orchestrates in-store preparation, and optimizes delivery routes. We also support teams in change management and internal process adaptation.
What concrete results can be expected from a well-executed proximity delivery strategy?
Our clients typically see delivery times reduced from 24-48h to 2-4h, average basket increases of 15-22%, NPS improvements of 12 points on average, and logistics cost reductions of up to 25% compared to a centralized model.
Charlotte Journo-Baur, founder of WISHIBAM
