WITH THE DESIRE FOR "INSTANT GRATIFICATION" PREVALENT THROUGHOUT the United States and beyond, eCommerce is giving shoppers exactly what they want. In need of groceries? Submit an order with a grocery delivery service and have them at your door in as little as an hour. Waiting for a package? Check your email for a tracking link that tells you exactly where it is and when it will be delivered. As a result, customer expectations are higher than ever - both for end consumers as well as the retailers that supply them. Just-in-time delivery is one of the biggest trends in beverage distribution, says Doug Eden, president of IntelliShift, a division of VTS, Commack, N.Y. "There used to be a 48-hour lead time for filling orders," he explains. "Now, customers want almost everything instantaneously and want shorter order-to-delivery times. Because many beverage customers supply and sell through Amazon, customers will order small quantities through Amazon, which, in turn, impacts overall revenue."
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