How Shoot Delivery Became an Asset-Lite Last-Mile Courier Without Depots or Drivers
Serial entrepreneur Sagar Bhat and his business partner were in the right place at the right time when an opportunity to handle last-mile delivery for a company receiving investment came their way. They seized the moment and, in 2022, established Shoot Delivery, an asset-lite last-mile courier business that harnesses the power of community and relationships to deliver across Canada.
In Tech, we trust
Coming from a technology background, the co-founders of Shoot Delivery put their faith in technology to enable them to build their new business from scratch. They believed that the right software would help them manage their fledgling enterprise and effectively solve any problems, but this approach initially proved problematic.
A week of struggling with unsatisfactory tools, poor user experience, and limited features made them realize they needed to find a better solution quickly if they were going to master the art of last-mile delivery and capitalize on their business opportunity.
“We trialed a different software for 5 days, and it was useless, so even though we had paid for a month’s subscription, we cut our losses and moved straight to Circuit”Since the co-founders lacked first-hand industry experience, they used their understanding of delivery from a recipient's perspective to map out the needs and processes from the end to the beginning of the last-mile delivery journey.
Their initial assumptions were that the main function of last-mile software would be route planning and the ability to collect proof of delivery. Their learning curve had just begun.
“I knew I would figure it out, and the solution came sooner than expected when we shifted to Circuit after a week of using unsatisfactory software. I was like, wow! This makes my life so much easier as a business owner, as a dispatcher, and also as a driver because I got to experience every facet of this business to understand the challenges that each stakeholder faces"Fine-tuning informed by feedback
During their early days, the team at Shoot Delivery quickly discovered that last-mile software needed to offer much more than route planning and proof of delivery as they took onboard feedback from their drivers and clients.
The ability to match drivers' skill levels to certain delivery locations now played a major role in how they planned their routes. Downtown delivery routes require experienced drivers to locate hard-to-find parking and navigate high-density traffic successfully. Rural routes with longer driving periods and fewer stops were more suitable for novice drivers.
Circuit’s bulk selection tool made it quick and easy to group selected stops, add them to a route, and assign that route to the most appropriate team member.
Shoot also realized the value of an easy-to-use driver app.
‘We underestimated the importance of good UI/UX and assumed most drivers would be tech-savvy, but that wasn’t the case. An intuitive app for our drivers is crucial when making sure that deliveries are handled correctly"Shoot offers same-day or next-day delivery of perishable items, such as food and flowers, which are unsuitable for reattempted delivery. Circuit's regular feature updates mean it’s now possible to specify that proof of delivery collection is mandatory for certain stops.
This is a critical feature for Shoot's asset-lite business model. It enables them to keep their clients happy with a digital paper trail of proof and safeguard themselves against the collateral damage of failed deliveries.
No depot, no drivers, no problem
Aware that profit margins on delivery can fluctuate and become razor-thin at times, Shoot decided to do things a little differently and establish itself as an asset-lite courier.
Instead of being tied into long-term and expensive rental agreements for a depot, Shoot offers incentivized delivery rates to its larger clients. In return, Shoot can use space within their client’s warehouse as a ‘pop-up depot’ for sorting and loading. This has proven to be a highly effective solution, enabling them to successfully handle up to 12,000 weekly deliveries at peak times.
"We have delivered up to 12,000 packages a week, and doing it on this scale is very difficult if there is no good operating system"Fleet costs are also kept to a minimum as they exclusively hire freelance drivers who use their own vehicles for delivery. Their payment model has these considerations baked in, as they always establish a fair wage that includes hours, fuel, and vehicle maintenance costs.
Because of this, sourcing drivers is never an issue, and part of Shoot's secret sauce relies heavily on recruiting from the local community. Using drivers connected to and familiar with the local area and roads gives them a head start and has resulted in great performance levels, with over 450 drivers now on their books.
Their mission to provide jobs for the local community goes even further. They spotted a pattern of regular downtime experienced by on-demand food delivery drivers and created a way for them to accept Shoot delivery work during this time. With routes averaging 35 stops, and typically completed by midday, Shoot offers these gigging drivers the chance to take on additional work when it’s most convenient to them. Drivers can choose to work for Shoot in the morning and return to on-demand food delivery in the afternoon and evening when demand is high, providing them with a full day’s work.
Shoot’s unconventional asset-lite approach to last-mile delivery combines the intelligence of software with the power of community to great success. Delivering across Canada in Ontario, Toronto, Ottawa, London, Windsor, Quebec, Montreal, and Vancouver, they plan to expand south of the border into America and eventually Europe. The sky’s the limit for Shoot.
Note: Circuit for teams is saving hundreds of businesses like Ethic Transport at least 20% on delivery costs. Try it free for 7 days.
