Flexibility is here to stay, but delivery will never replace the in-store experience, Macy's executive says of new DoorDash partnership

• Macy's and DoorDash recently announced a partnership to offer same-day delivery from more than 500 Macy's and Bloomingdale's locations, but the companies don't see in-store shopping going away anytime soon.
• Company executives shared their thoughts on the collaboration and on the future of retail during Business Insider's IGNITION: A Retail Revolution event, presented by Salesforce.
• As the pandemic has forced people to shop from home, DoorDash has established several delivery partnerships with retailers like PetSmart and Sam's Club.

Executives from Macy's and DoorDash are eager to provide customers more shopping options with their new same-day-delivery partnership, but they don't think traditional brick-and-mortar shopping is going away anytime soon.

The companies announced a partnership last month that lets shoppers order goods for same-day delivery from more than 500 Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores across the country. The idea behind the venture is to give people the option to shop more easily from home as the pandemic keeps them away from physical store locations — but both companies agree that even though the demand for delivery is surging during the pandemic, it will never replace in-store browsing.

"What we're seeing now in terms of the flexibility and the options for customers — that's here to stay, and that will continue to evolve," Sean Barbour, vice president of supply chain strategy at Macy's, said Thursday during Business Insider's IGNITION: A Retail Revolution panel. "But ultimately we're going to see a balance ... There is always going to be a desire for in-store shopping depending on the occasion."

Carly Brush, director and general manager at DoorDash, agreed, saying that the current emphasis on delivery and curbside pickup likely is not a permanent shift.

"Certainly people are creating new habits during this time, but I don't think that means the old habits are going to go away," Brush said during the panel. "Retailers are starting to become more experiential, and I really don't think that delivery or online shopping can ever fully compete with the experience of going into a store."

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Nevertheless, as the pandemic continues to force people to shop and eat at home, DoorDash has forged a host of partnerships with businesses across the retail landscape. While the pandemic didn't initiate the adoption of same-day delivery, it definitely accelerated it, Brush said.

For instance, DoorDash launched a partnership with PetSmart in September to offer same-day delivery across some 1,400 of the retailer's stores. It's the delivery platform's first foray into pet retail.

The firm has also teamed up with drug stores to offer same-day delivery of prescription medications and other products. In July, DoorDash announced that customers in select cities would be able to order more than 2,000 items from Walgreens through the DoorDash app, which also recently added partners including 7-Eleven, CVS, and Wawa. In late October, DoorDash announced a collaboration with Sam's Club Pharmacy for same-day prescription delivery.

And amid all of its new same-day-delivery initiatives, the company is also expanding its core food-delivery business. Last month, the delivery firm announced it had teamed up with Bay Area restaurant brand Burma Superstar to launch a brick-and-mortar location oriented toward pickup and delivery orders. DoorDash also recently helped Chicago's Krazy Hog BBQ set up a ghost kitchen of its own after the pandemic forced the restaurant to close its doors for several months.