It’s time for a change in the paradigm regarding the delivery of goods from merchant to consumer. Why can’t everyone, the merchant, the driver and the consumer all have their “cake and eat it too”? That would be an attitude of abundance. More descriptive of the current paradigm, is an attitude of scarcity that suggests only the driver or deliverer, rather than either the merchant or consumer, can benefit by providing an efficient and effective system of delivery. Such a change, however, would require a delivery system that was designed in a way that it actually fostered a collaborative relationship among the merchant, the driver and the consumer. Fortunately, such a system has been developed, and has been launched in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington D. C., Connecticut, and Virginia – it’s called DeliveryCircle™.
What if a merchant, a local small business, wanted to be more competitive and customer focused by providing delivery service to its customers, but couldn’t afford to do so because of the cost of adding a staff of drivers and vehicles and the uncertainty that such a service would be used consistently enough to warrant the expense. What if a consumer wanted, or maybe even needed to have something delivered, but was dissuaded by the cost and the uncertainty that the merchandise could be delivered at a convenient time. What if a delivery driver had ample free time from his/her routine deliveries to be able to take on more, but could not because she/he was committed to only one supplier, one merchant. These all seem like insurmountable barriers to the current paradigm of providing delivery service, but they are not, and Vijaya Rao and DeliveryCircle™ have found a solution. “A behavioral change is required in the community,” explains Rao. By creating a collaborative circle of merchants, drivers and consumers, the DeliveryCircle™ system empowers the community to share its resources in a way that meets everyone’s needs. This allows the merchant who could not otherwise afford to offer a delivery service to be able to utilize such a service on a flexible basis and pay an affordable and fixed rate. It allows the driver to plan and schedule his/her time in a way that maximizes its utilization and the revenue that can be generated because she/he is paid for the delivery not their time. Finally, it allows the consumer to be in control of receiving a delivery that is both affordable and made at a time and place convenient to his schedule.
Rao explains that “it begins by creating a network of drivers in the community. These resources come from local commercial drivers and agencies. Once the network has been established, we market to businesses that would benefit by offering a delivery service. These are typically, businesses that have a need for delivery but the need is variable and unpredictable. Then we promote the service to the consumer.” DeliveryCircle™ is working to become the “one stop for all local deliveries.” This collaborative community infrastructure is supported by an extensive database that manages all drivers and their location at any given time, as well as all requests for delivery and their requirements at any given moment. It is interactive, allowing all parties to communicate in real time to achieve the desired outcomes in the most beneficial and convenient manner for all.
A brief example illustrates the simplicity of this system. Rao recounted the experience of a recent customer request. It seems that this customer had traveled to the home of some friends in New Jersey for the weekend recently. It was about a sixty mile journey one way. Upon arriving back home to Delaware after the weekend, she realized that she had left her camera at her friends in New Jersey. Knowing that she would not be going back to New Jersey for many months she was left with only a few options for getting her camera back. She could invite her friends to Delaware and ask them to bring the camera with them, if it would even be feasible for them to do so. She could drive back herself and get it despite the 120 mile round trip journey. She could have her friends ship it using one of the well known shipping services. She decided to contact DeliveryCircle™. She registered her delivery request on the company’s website and indicated that she was not in a particular hurry to receive the camera. The next day, a DeliveryCircle™ driver from Delaware saw a number of pick-ups for New Jersey that were all in the vicinity of the client’s friends home. He was able to pick up the camera along with several other items that day and deliver them all to their various Delaware drop-off addresses. For a very nominal cost, this DeliveryCircle™ customer was able to solve her problem in a very simple and convenient manner, and the driver was able to make a little extra money by just picking up an extra package in an area he was already working.
If it is easy, affordable and beneficial to all the stakeholders in the process, then everyone wins. To learn more about Vijaya Rao and DeliveryCircle™ go to: https://deliverycircle.com/ .
