Drizly, the nation's largest alcohol e-commerce marketplace, faced the challenge of streamlining shopping for beer, wine, and spirits online. The company needed to connect its customers with a wide array of selections, competitive pricing, and fast delivery. Additionally, Drizly had to manage the complexities of state-by-state differences in alcohol regulations, retailer and payment processing challenges, and proof of identification and signatures. The company also had to adapt to the changing landscape due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included implementing measures to keep its community, partners, and customers safe. This included offering contactless ID scanning, eliminating customer signatures, and offering outside deliveries.

Flowers for Dreams, a flower delivery company with a philanthropic business model, faced significant challenges in routing and logistics. The company, which operates in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit, and ships across the Midwest, had been using rudimentary software for its delivery operations. However, the software broke down on Valentine’s Day, their busiest holiday, leaving hundreds of bouquets undelivered. This incident highlighted the need for a more robust and reliable solution for their software and logistics, prompting the company to seek a specialized solution to improve their operations and scale their business.

Harmons, a family-owned and locally run business since 1932, with 19 locations in Utah, was faced with the challenge of developing an eCommerce solution for online order delivery. The company was concerned about outsourcing to a third-party service due to the potential disconnection from the shopper and the erosion of the trust their brand had built over time. The key challenge was to bring delivery in-house while remaining autonomous in the process. Harmons wanted to maintain brand loyalty through shopper-centric processes and needed to address the third-party challenge.

Imperfect Foods, a company founded in 2015 with a mission to eliminate food waste and build a better food system, faced a significant challenge as their business grew. They offered imperfect but delicious produce, affordable pantry items, and fresh eggs and dairy at up to a 30% discount compared to grocery store prices, delivered to customers' doorsteps. However, as their customer base expanded, managing their deliveries became increasingly complex. In 2017, they decided to bring their logistics in-house and launched a pilot program in their nascent Portland, Oregon market. This involved employing their own trucks, dispatchers, and drivers, all equipped with Onfleet’s last mile delivery software. The situation was further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a spike in demand for at-home grocery delivery. Imperfect Foods had to accommodate many new customers in a short time span and meet the need for an increased interest in harder-to-find items.

The cannabis industry has seen significant growth in recent years, spurred by state-level legalization initiatives and increased demand during the pandemic. However, the sector faces unique challenges, including perishable inventory, limited marketing channels, and the need for strict compliance with rapidly evolving laws and regulations. Cannabis retailers often struggle with complex logistics, with some using up to six different software systems to manage their operations. This 'Frankenstein' model is inefficient and costly. Additionally, the industry has been marked by racial and social inequalities, with laws unequally applied across racial and economic lines.

Mountain Remedy, a delivery-only cannabis operator in California, was looking to grow its market share after achieving its customer growth goals. The company had successfully used The Flower Agency's digital marketing strategies to attract existing cannabis users away from the competition, resulting in an 11.6x return on ad spend. However, this success led to a significant increase in delivery volume, which brought with it operational complexities. The company was faced with the challenge of scaling its business while simplifying operations. They needed a solution that would not only help them manage the increased delivery volume but also improve efficiency and profitability.

The holiday season is a time of increased consumer spending, with a significant portion of purchases being made online. However, recent trends indicate a shift in consumer behavior, with a majority of Americans planning to purchase holiday gifts from local retailers with an online presence rather than online-only retailers like Amazon or Wayfair. This shift is particularly pronounced among younger generations, with 75% of Gen Z and 79% of Millennials planning to make such purchases. These consumers are driven by a preference for shopping small and locally, supporting businesses that align with their values and ethics, including environmental consciousness. A small Christmas tree delivery business, NYCTrees.com, faced the challenge of meeting these consumer demands while also ensuring efficient and convenient delivery.

Patty’s Cakes and Desserts, a retail storefront bakery in Fullerton, California, experienced a 400% increase in delivery demand during the pandemic. The bakery was initially using a third-party delivery company to manage its deliveries, which included 360 deliveries every month, comprising 60 wedding cakes and 300 smaller items. However, the delivery company ceased operations at the start of the pandemic. This left Patty’s Cakes and Desserts with a significant challenge of meeting the increased demand for deliveries while also having to figure out a new logistics solution.

Plants Delivered Chicago, an online plant shop, faced a significant challenge when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. As non-essential businesses began to close, the company decided to keep plant delivery alive to meet the massive demand for plants. However, the logistics and administrative side of the business quickly became overwhelming. The company struggled to organize and optimize delivery routes, and the founder, Andy Robledo, found himself shuffling through five different apps on his phone, none of which were satisfactory. The company also faced financial strain as it tried to grow and scale the business by hiring employees, with the cost of administrative assistants ranging from $55k-$65k a year per individual.

Rockery, a company that provides on-demand access to heavy building materials, was facing a significant challenge in managing its delivery process. The company's business model involves sending a truck to the source of the building material, typically a rock quarry, and delivering the material to the contractor’s job site. For the first few years, Rockery managed its dispatching using Slack channels. However, by March of 2019, the company realized that this ad hoc method was not sustainable for their growing business. They needed a solution that would allow them to rapidly scale their operations without compromising on efficiency or customer service.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards delivery services across various sectors, including the pharmacy industry. Customers, particularly those with chronic conditions, have been forced to stay out of public places, including pharmacies, to protect their health. This has led to an increased demand for delivery services for prescription medications. However, the pharmacy industry has been slow to adapt to this change due to antiquated software systems that operate in silos. These systems lack transparency and leave patients, providers, and pharmacies in the dark. Furthermore, the delivery of prescription medications involves many variables and compliance details, which further complicates the process.

Sendik’s Food Market, located in Franklin, Wisconsin, was facing a significant challenge in managing the high demand for on-demand floral and grocery delivery orders, especially during holidays like Mother’s Day. The floral department alone would go through over 600 dozen roses in just 2 or 3 days. The popularity of online express grocery orders, a trend that has persisted due to pandemic-led behavioral changes, added to the daily delivery load. The challenge was not just about managing the high volume of orders but also ensuring that the orders were accurately fulfilled and delivered on time. The team had to work a day or two ahead to stay on top of orders and account for the last-minute orders that would pour in the day before and day of the holiday.

Thistle, a meal delivery company, initially relied on a third-party company for its delivery needs. However, to gain better control over the customer experience, Thistle decided to bring the delivery function in-house. This decision required a robust delivery management infrastructure. The Thistle team recognized the need for delivery management software that could automate most delivery logistics, including routing, tracking, delivery management, and customer notifications. The challenge was to find a solution that was easy to deploy and use, while also offering all the features Thistle required to manage delivery efficiency.

Tonic Blooms, an online florist based in Toronto, is committed to environmentally sustainable business practices. The company aims to keep flower waste to a minimum, less than two percent, by exclusively buying flowers within its design collection. However, as the company expanded beyond downtown Toronto due to its unique sender recipient business model and dedication to sustainability, it faced new challenges. The introduction of vehicle delivery across the greater Toronto area and Southern Ontario to keep up with demand led to growing pains for Tonic Blooms. The company needed a solution that would allow it to respond to customer tracking requests immediately while maintaining its commitment to environmental sustainability.

TOOLBX, a leading construction material procurement platform, faced the challenge of ensuring timely delivery of materials to job sites. With 60% of their orders being placed the night before, the company needed an efficient system for automatic routing and route optimization. The challenge was further intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a surge in demand as contractors turned to TOOLBX to keep their projects running smoothly despite material waits. The company also faced the challenge of reducing wait times for customers even as restrictions on big box stores were lifted in Canada. The need for a solution that could provide real-time tracking and GPS support for express deliveries was paramount.

United Supermarkets, a Texas-based grocery chain, began offering delivery services in 2016 in response to customer requests. Initially, the service was manual and only available in Lubbock, Texas. Customers would place an order by calling the store, and a manager would deliver it. The company later expanded the service to include online ordering and curbside pickup, which led to a significant increase in demand. However, the company was cautious about marketing the service heavily as they wanted to ensure a consistent customer experience and overall efficiency. The delivery operations teams used Google Maps to manually plan routes and scheduled only two deliveries per hour to ensure timely delivery. The vehicles, although refrigerated, were typically stocked with only a few deliveries at a time, leading to frequent trips back to the store for reloading. The company believed they could handle more orders per hour and make fewer reloading trips with better planning tools.

UrbanStems, a flower delivery company operating in NYC and Washington, DC, faced a significant challenge when they transitioned from a third-party bike courier company to an in-house team of bike and car couriers in 2015. The company, which offers same-day delivery of farm-fresh flowers, needed a robust technology infrastructure to manage logistics and ensure on-time delivery for hundreds of orders a day. This challenge was further amplified during big holidays such as Valentine’s Day when the volume of orders could increase tenfold. The company required a solution that could efficiently handle routing and delivery of these orders, and also integrate seamlessly with their other in-house systems.

BullyBillows, a company that designs and sells dog accessories, was struggling to keep up with increasing customer demand. The company was operating out of a spare bedroom, with the founders handwriting names and addresses of orders, a process that was time-consuming and prone to errors. The company was looking for a solution that would allow them to streamline their dispatch process, reduce errors, and meet the growing demand for their products. The challenge was to find a solution that would allow them to increase their shipping volume, reduce shipping errors, and spend less time on the dispatch process.

3PL, a company providing warehousing, distribution, and carrier management for over 40 different retail businesses, was facing several challenges. They had been using the same delivery management platform for nearly a decade, which offered a single carrier delivery and required manual processes. This resulted in limited IT resources for carrier integration and customer frustration. As an ambitious business, 3PL needed to gear up for growth and futureproof their operations. They required a carrier and delivery management software that could fully enable expansion. The existing system was not only inefficient but also lacked a relationship with the supplier, leading to stagnation and acceptance of the status quo.

The client, a globally recognized home electronics and beauty retailer, was facing several challenges in their direct-to-consumer (D2C) commerce model. Despite having a significant presence through concessions, resellers, and department stores, the brand was struggling to control the customer experience and increase sales through their own D2C ecommerce channel. The ecommerce customer journey was hampered by a clunky delivery experience, starting with a static checkout that displayed prescriptive delivery options. The fulfillment and logistics operation was not configured for global expansion, with complexities around multi-carrier consignment allocation. Furthermore, the brand was limited to a single carrier offering, and the lack of a dynamic checkout was negatively impacting the customer experience. Delivery was a sticking point for converting browsers to buyers, and basket conversion was a significant pain point.

Graham & Brown, a leading British-made design led wallpaper, paint, and art company, faced significant challenges in their delivery management. With a rapidly growing ecommerce brand, the company was struggling with a single carrier delivery offering, which provided limited choice to customers at checkout. As the business expanded, the logistics operation was unable to keep up with the increasing demand for customer convenience. The process of onboarding new carriers was resource-intensive and cumbersome. The lack of a multi-carrier offering or a delivery management platform resulted in a lot of manual work in the warehouse. If customer orders needed changing, the label had to be cancelled and changed manually for each order, leading to customer frustration and inefficiencies.

The footwear brand, one of the largest manufacturers in the UK, was facing several challenges in its quest to become a digitally driven business. The company's traditional 'selling through catalogue' D2C culture was proving to be a hindrance in the digital age. The maintenance and development of different carrier integrations were expensive and resource-intensive due to the complex rules and changing requirements. The company lacked the necessary infrastructure to pivot or change in response to seasonal peaks and troughs, shifts in consumer behaviour, and industry disruption. This made it difficult for the retailer to adapt operations to meet customer promise and expand their operations for growth. Additionally, the teams had limited insights on carrier activity in real-time, often relying on historic data in third-party systems, making it difficult to monitor delivery performance.

The luxury fashion retailer was facing a multitude of challenges. With shipment volumes doubling during peak periods and plans for further international expansion, their existing direct carrier integration was no longer sufficient. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about sudden changes in customer behavior, leading to the closure of their high street stores, a strained central warehouse, and stock trapped in shops. The Brexit transition added to the complexity with new processes, roadblocks for international exports, and increased risk with no option to reroute deliveries. As more customers began shopping online, the brand's operations were not scalable enough to meet the growing customer expectations. They were also dealing with high carrier maintenance costs, too many manual processes, complex integrations, and a lack of real-time carrier data, making it difficult to adapt their operations quickly or gain key insights on the customer journey.

The food box subscription brand, shipping over 600,000 parcels per year, was facing several challenges. The operational processes were laborious and complex, resulting in high costs. The brand was struggling with maintaining integrations, adding new carriers, and manual processes such as label generation. Additionally, the booming meal kit delivery and subscription market was increasing customer demand, making it difficult for the brand to keep up with competitors while maintaining customer experience. The brand also lacked visibility of the customer journey, with limited access to real-time third-party data across the post-purchase customer journey. They struggled to get a view on carrier performance and lacked the key insights needed to seamlessly support customers with delivery.

The luxury fashion platform, with a decade-long history of connecting customers with thousands of brands, department stores, and independent boutiques worldwide, faced significant challenges in its shipping operations. The 'ship from anywhere' model, involving multiple locations in various countries, posed a daunting task in terms of efficiency and agility. The platform's technology capability, built entirely in-house, had supported its momentous growth. However, the next stage of growth required collaboration with a third-party supplier, a significant business decision that required careful consideration. Additionally, the platform aimed to diversify its carrier offerings to provide more options to customers. However, one-to-one carrier integration was time-consuming, expensive, and resource-intensive.

musicMagpie, a leader in the re-commerce of consumer technology, was facing challenges in managing customer experience during peak periods. The company was experiencing a surge in 'where is my order' (WISMO) calls, making it difficult to keep up with the demand. The customer shipping experience was largely owned by three carriers, resulting in a loss of brand engagement at crucial customer touchpoints. The in-house visibility of parcel tracking data and management of delivery exceptions was limited, often leading to the musicMagpie team learning about issues only when the customer contacted the customer service team or when they manually cross-referenced orders with carrier invoices at a later date. The rising volumes and complex delivery operations led to an increase in WISMO enquiries, putting additional pressure on the already busy customer service teams and risking the quality of customer experience.

N Brown, the home of JD Williams, Simply Be, Ambrose Wilson, and Jacamo, was facing challenges with their customer journey and brand experience. The company had launched the JD Williams app to serve their loyal customers in a smart way. However, eight months after the launch, they realized that the post-purchase experience needed more focus. The order tracking on the JD Williams app was limited and required complex developmental workarounds to make the content richer and the app more customer-friendly. The company was also relying on third-party carrier tracking sites, which led to a poor user experience as customers were redirected away from the app and the brand experience. Furthermore, there was a lack of visibility of user behavior, which was crucial for improving the app and the overall customer experience.

Party Delights, the UK's leading partyware retailer, faced several operational challenges. Despite having a delivery management system in place, the company was heavily reliant on a single supplier for shipping. This posed a significant risk as even a short period of downtime could result in a backlog of hundreds of orders, leaving the warehouse team idle. The company was also seeking to future-proof its operations and improve account management and support. The need for diversification of tech and mitigation of single points of failure, especially in business-critical operations like shipping, was paramount. The company's growth and the increase in online shopping meant more shipping, and the existing system was not equipped to handle the surge efficiently.

The retailer, a premier ethical brand in the UK's health, beauty, and cosmetics sector, was grappling with several challenges. Firstly, they were dissatisfied with their existing delivery management supplier due to long support times and frustrating communications, which strained their relationship. Secondly, the retailer was keen on realizing operational efficiencies and wanted to be agile enough to act on any improvement and optimization opportunities that arose. However, these opportunities remained unexplored due to the limitations of their delivery operations. Lastly, the retailer was striving to meet and exceed rising customer expectations in a world of constant change. They aimed to provide a flawless delivery experience, which was a challenge given the constant need to innovate and improve in the final mile of delivery.

Wincanton, the largest British 3PL, was driven by customer satisfaction and innovation to expand their fulfilment tech offering. They were looking to strengthen their final mile tech roadmap and add extra value to fast-growth retailers. Despite having a strong hold on warehousing, fulfilment, logistics and distribution, Wincanton recognized the need for new technology to transform carrier management and post-purchase solutions for their customers. This would not only open up a new stream of revenue but also address customer challenges. The need for a partner was driven by customer needs, particularly the increasing demand for a competitive final mile, a factor that was causing concern for retailers.