The Buzz: Getting Holiday Deliveries On the Road

This year, Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday. This raises problems for retailers since traditional carriers such as UPS and FedEx don’t deliver on Sundays. With nearly 9 percent of consumers waiting until Christmas Eve to complete holiday shopping, how can retailers get those last-minute e-commerce buyers their gifts in time for Christmas morning? Roadie, an app-based community that taps into unused space in vehicles of drivers already on the road, can help.

On-the-Way Delivery

Roadie, founded in 2015, connects people who need to send things with nearly 50,000 drivers who are already heading in that direction and have plenty of unused space in their cars and trucks.

With drivers in all 50 states, Roadie’s collaborative delivery model allows retailers to quickly schedule deliveries, get an instant price quote, choose a driver who is nearby, track transit in real time, get immediate delivery confirmation with a photographic chain of custody, and verify the authorized recipient with a security code.

Roadie is on-the-way delivery, not on-demand delivery, making it more efficient and affordable. Most on-demand or courier-style delivery providers have higher fixed costs, limited geographic footprints and restrictions on package size.

Retailers Hitting the Road(ie)

Retailers already using Roadie include a major department store chain, a Los Angeles-based e-commerce company, and a large U.S. airline sending items in three dozen markets.

Roadie doesn’t represent the first time that retailers have resorted to collaborative delivery. Best Buy once had store employees personally deliver packages to customers after a winter storm disrupted normal delivery. Wal-Mart recently announced a pilot program that lets store employees deliver online orders on their way home. 

“We’re working hard to find a way to get you fresh, quality groceries all while keeping a little more time on your calendar,” Mike Turner, vice president of e-commerce operations, said in a recent blog post about Wal-Mart’s newest delivery service.

So while shoppers are worrying about getting gifts for everyone on their holiday list, retailers can guarantee a timely delivery no matter what day of the week the holiday falls on.

“Collaborative delivery affordably leverages resources that are already at their fingertips,” says Marc Gorlin, founder and CEO of Roadie. “This is an easy way for retailers to make customers happier, bring more traffic to their stores, close more sales and contribute to the bottom line.”