Next time you need your favorite local food item and a hammer from the hardware store, you can get it all delivered to you in under an hour.
On-demand delivery app Pikfly has created an all-in-one platform that gets customers their items from local Phoenix merchants with the help of independently contracted drivers.
“We aggregate their products into a Pikfly marketplace,” CEO Mike Auger said. “We make it easy for everyone to buy from local businesses and we deliver those products and orders in the same day delivery service.”
Pikfly is a platform for businesses to manage their stores and the delivery process, not just a delivery service. The platform is currently only available in the Phoenix market during beta testing.
The Valley has received an influx of on-demand apps for delivery such as Tapingo, DoorDash and Postmates, however Pikfly is hyper-focused on helping smaller local businesses reach more customers.
READ: College students can now get Chipotle on-demand with Tapingo
The process starts when a consumer purchases items from a variety of 100 local merchants available through Pikfly.
The merchants will then be notified through the merchant side of the Pikfly platform, where they can process the order and have a driver (also known as a navigator) pick up the items.
If a consumer wants items from two separate stores near each other, the same navigator will pick up from both locations. However if the stores are across the Valley, two navigators may be deployed to pick up the items.
“All of our deliveries have been delivered in less than an hour to date,” Auger said. The platform allows the merchant to process the order before a driver is sent to pick it up.
Pikfly also has a 14 day return policy on all products delivered except perishables. When an item is out of stock, the app will recommend a substitute.
Consumers have two delivery fees: the $6.95 fee for deliveries within 10 miles of the merchant, and $12.95 for anywhere else in the Valley.
On the navigator side of the platform, the drivers are able to set their parameters. They can set their schedule, distance preferences, and other factors.
“We don’t ask them to work particular hours,” Auger said. “We will ultimately allow the consumer to choose the navigator, we will allow them to create that relationship.” All drivers are independent contractors.
Pikfly is currently working with Local First Arizona and looking to expand their services and partnerships around the Valley.
“We are in the process of identifying which cities we are going to roll into, that have a much heavier emphasis on the local movement and probably smaller in terms of scale,” Auger said.
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Graphics courtesy of Pikfly
