3 Companies Using Speed as a Competitive Advantage

★ The Instant-Gratification Culture

The need for instant gratification is not new, but our expectation of ‘instant’ has become faster, and as a result, our patience is thinner.

When the majority of the population has a desire or inclination, the marketplace naturally responds. Entrepreneurs have begun building their businesses around this desire for instant gratification, and as a result, consumers have become even more conditioned to expect real-time services that further feed this perceived need.

★ Speed as a Competitive Advantage

Businesses across varying industries have quickly realized that speed can be used to develop a competitive advantage. Speed can be categorized under a number of different labels -- including speed to market, speedy delivery and speedy service -- but the root word stays the same. Any time a business can do something faster than the competition, they’re going to experience some level of success.

In industries that are particularly price competitive, speed can be the distinguishing competitive advantage.

Amazon Prime, Uber Eats, and Jimmy Johns are three examples of how attending to the market desire of instant gratification offers an effective means of gaining a competitive advantage.

1. Amazon Prime 

No company has mastered order fulfillment and shipping quite like Amazon. Not only are they extremely efficient and accurate but speed is a major priority. Through Amazon Prime, the company’s flagship paid membership service, customers can get guaranteed two-day shipping on all products that are Prime eligible. Offering this two-day service is a smart move for Amazon for two distinct reasons:

a. Conditions Customers

Even if a customer only tries two-day shipping once, they find it hard to go back to the standard three to seven days. As a result, they’re apt to continue paying for a Prime membership. 

b. Encourages More Purchases

The biggest disadvantage ecommerce has compare to brick-and-mortar retail is that consumers have to wait for products to arrive after purchasing them. By focusing on speedy delivery, Amazon has been able to mitigate this disadvantage.

2. UberEATS 

UberEATS is changing the game for both businesses and consumers. Using the associated app, users simply select one of the daily meals from selected restaurants in their area and place an order. An Uber driver then delivers food in 10 minutes or less.

All payment takes place through the app and a flat fee charge for each request (not the number of meals), it’s cheap, simple and extremely easy.

3. Jimmy John's 

When you think fast delivery, Jimmy John’s instantly comes to mind. The company’s marketing messages were filled with slogans revolving around “Freaky Fast.” However, despite the fact that the company has come under attack for being too fast in terms of traffic safety. Jimmy John’s is still known for its fast delivery that arrives in 15 minutes or less. This quick delivery has allowed the company to set itself apart from the pack.

Edited by: 浪子

Bibliography

Samuel Edwards. (2016). 3 Companies Using Speed as a Competitive Advantage. Retrieved from 
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/253372