Will you carry a parcel with you on your journey? Deliverwithme will reward for it
Problems are beautiful. Why? Because when we inch towards a solution, the feeling one derives is sheer delight and satisfaction. We may be able to solve it or perhaps not, but the process itself is stimulating. This is what entrepreneurs chase. Logistics in India is one such problem and any solution which fits one piece of the puzzle, is a small victory.
Step in Deliverwithme. Founded by Anand Satyan, Rashid Dyussembaev, Baha and Dauren Alipbayev, Deliverwithme is a crowdsourced Ecommerce Delivery Platform.
How it works
1) The user signs up on Deliverwithme and posts a trip with his or her contact details
2) Confirmation sms/email is sent one day prior to the journey to confirm
3) Deliverwithme manager hands over the package to the user at the airport
4) The user gives it back to another Deliverwithme manager at the destination
In return, the user gets rewards, offers and vouchers from the close to 30 brands Deliverwithme has partnered with.
The ‘Pivotful’ Evolution
Deliverwithme started out as a peer to peer network where people can get stuff delivered across via people traveling on the same routes. But Satyan and team soon realized that there were too many hassles in this:
1) Users had to manage the delivery of the parcel within the city
2) Contents of the package always remained a concern
Deliverwithme generated good traction at launch but realized the above problems when they looked into the reasons for the lull that had taken over. A turning point came when Satyan was talking with Kunal Shah of Freecharge and the team realized that eCommerce ventures are also looking for different modes of deliveries.
This is how Deliverwithme pivoted to become a crowdsourced eCommerce delivery platform.
Also, the company started out with the idea of a monetary gain wherein a traveler would get INR 200 on successful completion of the delivery but taking in feedback, they soon realized the incentive wasn’t big enough. Deliverwithme tied up with various brands and now offers coupons and goodie bags. Currently, the user gets access to all the offers and gets a goodie bag which has samples from the brands. There are plans to extend into offering experiences as well.
The green angle
According to the ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, our domestic cargo stands at 0.89 million metric tonnes per year. Of this, 17.1% is transported by aircraft specially dedicated to freight operations. Whereas passenger flights utilize only 68% of their cargo capacity. Further calculation showed that if passenger flights utilized their capacity to the fullest, we would not be needing any special flights. In fact, we would still have 16% of the space left unused.
Deliverwithme will help alleviate this pain point as well by utilizing space more efficiently (more about this on this Prezi)
A problem worth solving
On the face of it, most of us would be excited with the proposition. The model has been tried before internationally and Satyan informs me even Walmart has launched something similar a couple of months ago. “We’re not comparing but the very fact that Walmart is trying out something similar is a validation for our model,” says Satyan. Currently limited to domestic flights in between four cities (Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi), the plan is to test out waters here and then move to other cities. The model can has also be extended to trains and buses.
A team of 12 based out of Bangalore, Deliverwithme has been completely bootstrapped till now and is looking to raise funds and logistics surely is a cost intensive business. The launch was great and the idea seems exciting, but now the question is how efficiently will Deliverwithme be able to execute and how long it can sustain till it hits a critical mass.
Try out their service here.