There is a continuous growth in customer demand for speedy shipping and retailers along with their logistics partners have been pushed to meet this demand. The volume of parcel shipments have skyrocketed due to the steady rise of e-commerce.

What is crowdsourced delivery?

Crowdsourced delivery basically is an emerging method of fulfillment that holds networks of local and other non-professional couriers to deliver packages to clients doors. While most common area of using this method is in meal and grocery deliveries. This model is springing up everywhere as traditional retailers look for methods to cut costs and maximize supply chain efficiency.

Why crowdsourced delivery?

Crowdsourced delivery is convenient for both retailers and their customers. Primary advantage is simply that companies get online orders to their customers faster — many a times in less than an hour.

Another use of crowdsourced delivery is that it is tech-heavy and asset-light. Just the way how ride sharing drivers use their own vehicles; and are typically paid per delivery or per shift. Companies don’t have to worry about warehouse operations or managing fleets or the benefits of their employees, which offsets some of the high costs and complex logistics connected with on-demand delivery. Even the big players are getting in on the action.

In traditional shipping, the inefficiency of final delivery is the last mile problem. This is where the journey gets most expensive and extremely time consuming. There are typically multiple stops along a given route — which slowed down by either long distances between stops in rural areas or heavy traffic in urban settings.

Future of same-day shipping

Crowdsourced delivery is not just limited to the F&B industry. Plenty of retailers are now experimenting with crowdsourcing as a solution to same-day shipping — an expectation of 56% of millennials, according to a survey from fraud prevention startup.