Home Depot doubles down on same-day shipping

The Home Depot's focus is moving from building new brick-and-mortar stores and toward building its online business in fiscal 2014. The move, among other things, will mean same-day shipping for its customers.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday, the retailer plans to spend at least $300 million on this aspect of its business in the fiscal year beginning in February, which includes the building of three new fulfillment centers in California, Atlanta and Ohio over the next two years.

However, Home Depot confirmed to HCN that same-day delivery -- as opposed to shipping -- is not part of its vision, at least in any novel sense; some Pro customers have already been availing themselves of both services.

The retailer will be buffing up its warehouse technology systems and looking to move some of its online order fulfillment to its stores, which will enable it to deliver as much as 90% of orders within two days. With the new supply chain capabilities, customers will also be able to place orders by 5 p.m. to take advantage of same-day shipping. 

"The new DFCs will dramatically increase the number of orders we can ship the same day they are received, which significantly expands the number of orders we’ll be able to deliver within two days or less," said Home Depot spokesperson Meghan Basinger. "With that same-day shipping capability, these centers are geographically positioned to leverage parcel freight carriers' networks."