« Back to articles

How EasyRoutes is Helping SMBs Grow

Highlighting the shift towards small and medium-sized businesses managing their own deliveries due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing popularity of eCommerce among modern consumers.

Your all-in-one local delivery app for Shopify

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us a lot of things, one of which is self-reliance. We’ve seen how the world has changed in the last few months as a result of this pandemic. Another important point to note is that the COVID-19 crisis has increased the number of small and medium-sized businesses that are delivering their own products. The local, then national, lockdown played a major role in this shift. Another factor is that people were hesitant to shop, eat, and drink in congested areas.

We’ve seen an increase in the number of retailers starting their own delivery operations at EasyRoutes route planner. Over half of our users say they’ve changed how they sell to customers, based on our conversations. They’ve either added delivery if it wasn’t already available or are putting more emphasis on it where it was previously neglected.

At the same time, this has only accelerated a trend that was already underway. For example, the growth of eCommerce has prompted more SMBs and SMEs (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises) to form delivery teams or partner with third-party delivery services in order to reach their customers.

Let’s look at how delivery software, such as our EasyRoutes route planner, can help you manage your own small business deliveries. Some of the features that EasyRoutes route planner provides to help you grow your business include:

  • Scale up your delivery services overnight
  • Remove reliance on high-priced third-party delivery services
  • Switch a profitable new business model
  • Reduce payroll expenses and costs
  • Improve your customer service

Scaling up deliveries

When your company needs to increase the number of deliveries quickly, your processes will undoubtedly be put under strain, which can be difficult to manage. However, this is where delivery management software like EasyRoutes can save you time and money.

There was a huge demand for daily essentials as the lockdown measures went into effect. As the lockdown taught us, there was a lot of pressure on pharmaceutical companies and everyday household vendors to deliver products to customers. As a result of the large number of people placing orders, these small businesses saw an increase in sales over night. These businesses were able to save 5-6 hours per week on route planning thanks to EasyRoutes.

Stop using third-party delivery services

Third-party delivery services will eat into your profit margins significantly. Food delivery services such as Uber Eats, DoorDash, Postmates, Grubhub, or Deliveroo, for example, will take a 30-40% commission on each order. If you work in retail, you may lose control of the customer-facing process when you sign up for these services with a third-party courier. As a result, many businesses find it more cost-effective to handle their own deliveries. But this isn’t going to be easy. This is where EasyRoutes can assist you and your company.

Restaurant owners are among EasyRoutes’ clients. The main issue these customers are dealing with is delivery routing and planning. They must manage their drivers and divide them into groups based on their location. However, with EasyRoutes, they now have the ability to optimize their route in order to find the best route to deliver all of their packages on time.

Conclusion

Small businesses can use EasyRoutes to power their direct-to-consumer (D2C) delivery operations and cut out the middleman. Rather than wholesaling their goods in bulk to merchants, they can sell directly to the public via eCommerce.

Learn more about EasyRoutes: Roundtrip.ai

Get EasyRoutes on the Shopify App Store

About Roundtrip

Roundtrip's mission is to equip every business with the software tools they need to deliver products to their customers in a delightful way. Thousands of worldwide choose EasyRoutes to power their local deliveries across dozens of product categories, from meal kits and groceries to coffee, cupcakes, kibble, and so much more. Our easy-to-use route planning and delivery optimization app is certified Built for Shopify, a two-time Shopify staff pick, and the top rated local delivery app on the Shopify App Store.

"Saves us so much time creating and updating our delivery routes."
Luft Balloon Store
Balloon delivery in Illinois 🇺🇸
Designed to make deliveries easy