A few years back, ride-sharing startups like Uber and Lyft changed the way many people got around, especially in big cities. They also decimated the taxi cab industry.
A few years later, the Airbnb startup changed way travelers found accommodations in different cities. It also ate into the market share of local hotels.
Now, a couple of new breakout apps are threatening to do the same thing to package delivery. And companies like UPS and FedEx are undoubtedly paying close attention.
Introducing Roadie and Deliv, two new delivery-sharing apps that hope to disrupt the package delivery industry the way Uber and AirBnB have done to their respective industries.
On the Road with Roadie
Roadie is a smartphone app that connects people looking to have packages and other items delivered to specific locations with drivers who happen to be going to the same place.
The way Roadie works is this: Say you are at the local home improvement store and have just purchased a new furnace for your home. But when you get to your car, you realize that there’s no way the huge box is going to fit into your trunk.
You could pay the store to deliver it to your home for you at an additional cost, possibly as much as $100. Or you could simply go to your smartphone, open the Roadie app and create a “job” and let drivers already online in the area bid on it, typically for much less.
Here’s another scenario: Say your son or daughter is moving away to college on the other side of the country and they want to take several boxes of their belongings with them. If you don’t want to make the cross-country journey yourself, you could use Roadie to find somebody already driving to the city where your child’s college is located and pay them to move the boxes for you.
Costs Less, More Efficient
Generally, the cost of moving items via Roadie, Deliv, and other similar apps is often lower than what you would pay established delivery services.
For example, if you lived in Chicago and found a couch on Craigslist being sold by somebody in Louisville, Kentucky, a traditional carrier probably would charge you $500 to $700 to pick it up at its current location and drop it off at yours, according to Melinda Decker, a Roadie driver based in Louisville. And it could be days or even weeks before you see your new couch.
But a Roadie driver who already was planning on driving to Chicago anyway might charge you much less, possibly as little as $123, Decker told local TV station WDRB-TV. And in some instances, your couch could be delivered the next day.
Roadie, Deliv, and other delivery-sharing apps could soon put a dent in the package delivery industry the way other disruptive technologies have changed the taxi cab, hotel, and other industries.