Home Depot Stuns with Lightning-Fast Same-Day Delivery

Retailers are stepping up their same-day delivery options, and Home Depot is the latest entrant to the competition. The home improvement chain launched a nationwide 3-hour delivery option last week, joining big box competitors Target and Walmart.

To see how the three services stack up, I ordered the same item from all three stores at exactly the same moment and tracked their delivery times.

I created brand new shopper profiles for this test and ordered a 12-pack of Bounty paper towels from each chain. Home Depot was the simplest to use, with a $2.99 same-day fee that is waived once the basket exceeds $25.

Home Depot pinged me 16 minutes after I placed my order to let me know a driver was en route, and they arrived in less than 30 minutes. Target's fulfillment service, Shipt, collected my order about an hour later and delivered it within 20 minutes.

In contrast, Walmart texted to say my order was being picked and would arrive at 3:14 p.m., but ultimately arrived at 3:20 p.m., three hours and nine minutes after I placed the order. While Walmart's ability to land a delivery within a few minutes of when it initially said it would is impressive, Home Depot completely stole the show in terms of speed, simplicity, and cost.