Heath Ward from CityChick loves chickens, and has done so since he was a kid visiting his grandparent's farm.
Apart from the obvious benefits of providing fresh organic eggs straight from the source, chickens are also natural gardeners, they take care of insects, and they are chock full of personality. “They are one of nature's best comedies,” says Heath who keeps more than 100 hens of his own at his farm in Atlanta, Georgia.
Founded in 2015, CityChick ships chicken feed and supplies to chicken owners and farms across the United States, and they deliver locally in the Atlanta area. With products ranging from soy free organic chicken feed to coops to hemp bedding, CityChick has tested all the items that they carry in their online store to make sure they meet their high quality standards and that the chickens love them.
“We work hard to source products that are sustainably produced and manufactured,” says Heath. And when he can't find a product that meets his high standards, he makes his own.
This year CityChick developed and launched their own private label, CityChick “DoGood” Grubs which is not only healthy for chickens, but it's good for the planet too. These chicken snacks are made from black soldier fly larvae grown on composted food leftover from grocery stores and restaurants that would normally end up in a landfill. The black soldier fly larvae make a healthy, calcium and protein-packed treat for the chickens.
To serve his growing customer base in Atlanta, Heath uses EasyRoutes to plan his regular delivery routes.
EasyRoutes is a powerful local delivery management app for Shopify that makes it simple to plan and share delivery routes. EasyRoutes is seamlessly integrated with Shopify, the e-commerce platform CityChick uses, so as soon as the app is open, their orders are there, ready to be routed. Heath simply has to select the orders he wants delivered and click a button to turn them into an optimized route, complete with map and inventory, that he can share with CityChick's in-house delivery driver.
"I was spending so much time trying to enter my customer's addresses. I really love how EasyRoutes imports all of my information from Shopify saving me so much time."
“Doing our own deliveries is much more cost-effective than out-sourcing them using couriers,” says Heath. “Before EasyRoutes I was trying to use another outside app for my delivery routes. I was spending so much time trying to enter my customer's addresses. I really love how EasyRoutes imports all of my information from Shopify saving me so much time.”
With the help of EasyRoutes, CityChick's delivery program has helped the company grow their business over the pandemic, which has hit many businesses hard. “I use EasyRoutes every day!” says Heath. “It's definitely my favorite app out of all my Shopify apps. Plus, EasyRoutes has great customer support! Any time that I have had a question, they have always been so quick to respond.”
If you're a chicken keeper who loves your feathered friends, visit CityChickATL.com to order your supplies, delivered with the power of EasyRoutes.
“EasyRoutes helps to make sure that Atlanta area chickens don't go hungry,” says Heath. And hearing things like that gets us really egg-cited.
