You only have to go back 10 years or so to a time where services like same day delivery were almost non-existent in e-commerce. However, as technology has become increasingly faster, more efficient and easy to use, deliveries have followed suit and many major online retailers now offer such services.
A statistics from Econsultancy show, customers are demanding more flexibility in delivery  options, and retailers need to offer this to increase conversions.

According to Econsultancy, 50% of respondents had abandoned a purchase online due to  unsatisfactory delivery options. So what does this mean to your business?

Lack of delivery option like Same day delivery = abandoned a purchases

Not everyone has the time to wait around for deliveries, so more certainty is required.  Standard delivery will suit some customers, and many would prefer to wait longer and have  free or cheaper delivery.
However, there are people who want the product ASAP. If your competitor has same day  delivery for the same item and you don’t, you may lose out.

–Same day delivery advantage for customers is they have the flexibility to place an order
when it suits them.—

Potential Advantages for e-commerce businesses

Competitive advantage
With this service, you have something over your competitors. Take this situation, you’ve
forgotten to get your friend a wedding gift. It’s already 4 days (if not one day) till the
wedding, what are you going to do? Last minute gift shopping is common with most people.
And as an online seller with a vast variety of goods, you can satisfy these urgent needs
immediately.

Less inventory troubles
With same day delivery you can send off your goods immediately. As a result you need not
waste time and money in holding stock for long. You can easily notify your supplier about
your orders for the day so they have the goods ready for you to deliver on the very same
day.

Increased productivity
With shorter deadlines you will be pushed to work harder, faster and more efficiently.
This gives you and your team the edge of being extremely productive.By having these
capabilities, businesses aren’t restricted to specific working hours so can increase their
productivity and reduce backlogs of work
Low labour cost.
If an e-commerce business hires an external firm to manage their deliveries and offer same
day services it can help bring down labour costs.

The combination of all these positives could lead to bigger profits for these businesses

Which delivery options are retailers offering?

The ecommerce industry has certainly improved over the years in this respect, and stats from the Micros Online Delivery Report show this.

68% of retailers offered the customer next day delivery in 2012, up from 61% for the
previous year.
This figure increases to 81% when looking solely at retailers from the IMRG-Hitwise Hot
Shops list. More established online retailers in other words.
Not so many were offering nominated day delivery though – just 23% of all retailers, and
41% of those from the Hot Shops list.
Saturday delivery is a great option to appeal to those customers who are out of the house
during the week, but just 33% of all and 46% of Hot Shop retailers offer this.
Conclusion

If such benefits are available, what will be interesting to see is how many e-commerce companies will start to offer same day delivery and indeed what customers will start to expect.

As aforementioned, we are currently living in the most advanced technological age in human history where most households have some form of high-speed internet connection and some kind of device.

With the previously stated advantages and the trends in consumer attitudes though, doing this or at least using a specialist third party delivery company for same day delivery certainly appears to be the smart business move.