The relentless push towards expediting last-mile delivery has led to a situation where providing consumers with a same-day delivery experience might become the norm in a few years. The “Amazon Effect” has had a definitive impact on customer delivery preferences, making them gravitate towards expecting delivery times that would have been considered impossible just a decade ago.
“One of the challenges inherent to same-day delivery is that everything is urgent. The stakes are high on the need for being on time. All the classic principles of logistics come into play here, such as having volume, density and the space for a delivery guy to pick up and deliver quickly,” said Brandon Bienvenu, president of TUYA Now.
TUYA Now is the application developed by TUYA, a Texas-based startup that is making same-day delivery a pleasant experience for businesses. Though companies are forced to deliver faster than ever, the last-mile delivery segment continues to depend on traditional practices that are wrought with inefficient processes.
“The industry has several traditional challenges that cover everything that’s touched by a manual process. So typically, the experience for businesses using same-day delivery companies would center on old-school approaches like calling people, waiting on people to get off the phone, and generally being three or four steps removed from the person who needs to receive the information,” said Bienvenu.
Eliminating obstacles in the value chain and making it easy for delivery professionals and businesses to leverage technology is what sets TUYA apart, explained Bienvenu. “Think of TUYA as an Uber model applied to the B2B same-day delivery space. While Uber connects the passenger directly with the driver, our technology connects businesses directly with delivery professionals to deliver packages, parcels and pallets,” he said.
TUYA connects to vehicle fleets that come in all shapes and sizes, including SUVs, pickup trucks and cargo vans. The fleets that have the TUYA Now app on their smartphones can receive offers of things that businesses need picked up and delivered, can review the proposals and select the ones that are good for their schedule and intended route. TUYA also recommends best-fit options for fleets to maximize their margins.
“Businesses using this application will have full visibility into the logistics process, from pickup to delivery. They can see prices upfront, can talk with delivery professionals picking up the parcel, and monitor movement via real-time tracking of their products,” said Bienvenu.
John Oren, the CEO and founder of TUYA, explained that the startup’s first beta platform was built to be very simple, and was made for both shipping businesses and delivery professionals. “From the beta launch, we wanted to learn how shippers and professional drivers would adopt our platform for same-day express deliveries,” he said. “That beta provided us the validation for larger investments and to build out a more complex, wider and deeper technology stack.”
TUYA currently serves a variety of verticals, including retail, wholesale distribution, construction supply and pharmaceuticals. The company has nearly 500 registered customers on the platform at the shipper end. TUYA also focuses equally on its delivery partners, helping them leverage technology to be more productive by reducing inefficiencies and optimizing delivery routes.
“TUYA’s unique selling proposition lies in our technology, our operations, and our customer service,” said Bienvenu. “The challenges we face, as is the case with any new technology, is building a user base and in making sure they continue to return to the platform. Changing the behavior of individuals who have been conducting business in a certain way for a while is a challenge, but we have been able to work through that over the years.”