PICKUP CEO Brenda Stoner on Beating Amazon in the Last Mile

Last-mile delivery is now essential in the logics space. The greater adoption of eCommerce and the need to get in now will continue to fuel it. While last mile for smaller parcels is relatively commoditized, larger product delivery was an unfilled niche. Enter PICKUP, a last-mile, same-day delivery service for items over 50 pounds. Talking about the company’s success and growth, MarketScale TV host Daniel Litwin spoke with the company’s founder and CEO, Brenda Stoner.

PICKUP is a Dallas 100 List member and operates in over 80 cities. Stoner explained how it works. “Retailers are good at present the right product to the right audience at the right time. Fulfillment and delivery are not part of their core.”

Stoner explained it doesn’t serve a retailer to build its own delivery network. “A company with 1000 stores shouldn’t own 1000 trucks.”

Retailers, however, do want to move high-dollar large items because they are taking up space. They also want to provide same-day delivery, as Amazon introduced this to consumers, and now they expect it. Stoner said, “Same-day delivery of large items is a competitive advantage over Amazon because they can’t do it if it’s not conveyable. You can’t win on the candle, but you can on the couch.”

Stoner spoke about the company’s growth, sharing advice for others. “The objective was to provide the same delivery experience at scale. We were in Dallas three years before expanding to Houston. We then developed PICKUP in a Box, our playbook.”

Technology is a critical factor for PICKUP. They have a gig economy model, but they apply to the enterprise and manage the process, curating the right people and building a culture. There is open visibility to their partners, and only 15% of those that apply to deliver make it through their funnel.

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