Local Delivery Cooperatives
The map below shows the 384 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States.
Click here to zoom in on your city.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- Vision
- Neighborhoods
- Sizing of local co-ops
- Forums and Civility
- We're not gatekeepers
Vision
Good customers exist
Good drivers exist
Let’s get together
It’s not just a cliche. Gig delivery has proven hugely popular. But the current system... sucks.
• Imagine drivers making $30/hr gross or $50/hr gross when running specials
• Imagine customers using tasteful colored lights as a low key beacon for their drivers
• Imagine customers receiving hot food, while it’s still hot
• Imagine passengers being able to make multiple stops, as long as they pay
• Imagine 2x weekly regular shoppers – the efficiency – knowing people’s preferences
• Imagine a platform that takes only $1 from each task, and doesn’t play games
• Imagine a platform encouraging true bartering with fair market labor rates suggested
• Imagine MATCHING smokers and non-smokers (well, separately)
• Imagine everyone being nice, friendly even – as if all were members of the same social club
These things are all possible. Customers already pay top dollar for shitty service. Imagine if we gave them good service! The mega-apps were "first-to-market" and have proven the concept. Gig delivery is here to stay. Specifically, THE MARKET is here to stay. Currently a half-dozen gig delivery mega-apps control almost all of the market share. What have they done with this power?
Ways exist to make it better. Arguments against capitalism aside, “a better way” is sound business.
We envision a system where neighborhoods can organize their own delivery co-ops for passengers, hot food, shopping, errands. A few honest people could oversee a small neighborhood of a few square miles (with caveats). A membership system has numerous benefits. A platform will tie it all together, and use the best qualities of CraigsList, eBay, and current gig apps.
Neighborhoods
Without interested neighborhoods, the entire concept is moot.
The concept is designed for neighborhoods. In almost every suburban neighborhood or small town, there's a center point where most stores and restaurants are located. Off those main roads, in the square miles between each main road with the businesses, are where the people live. Those are the people who order delivery from nearby restaurants/stores.
It's useless to assume. Are people really interested in local independent delivery co-ops in their own neighborhood?
How much do people really order delivery? How many would order if the service was better?
Can we get a head-count (no strings, no cost) of who might be interested in an open-source system for local delivery - for their own neighborhood?
- Head count of those interested in organizing a 3-4 mile local co-op (no strings and no spam... just estimating)
It's important that interested parties speak up.
Prospective Organizers
Drop us a note with your zip code to be counted. (No obligation, just for estimating.)
For the most ambitious among you, keep in mind that we'll need a few prototype areas to test the system. The only investment (when the time comes) is a ridiculous amount of time, communication, and attention to detail.
Further, if you're interested in leadership and already know of a few drivers and a few interested restaurants, in a small (1-4 sq mi) area of about 5,000-10,000 people..... we would appreciate your input in a focus group. We have a busload of ideas already for logistics and marketing (that will only get better through through the public discussion forums) that we are eager to try out once the software is ready. First let's bounce those ideas around real-world neighborhoods.
Please reach out if you want to get involved!
Size of Local Cooperatives
How about that map, eh?
Is that great or what??
Did you zoom it in to your city?
Each little green area or "Metropolitan Statistical Area" is about 50,000 people. That's HUGE! That covers a couple whole counties and a half-dozen individual suburban cities.
If we thought about 3-4 square mile areas, at least five cooperatives would fit in that area.
Should the cooperatives be bigger? How far do customers want the food to travel - for regular Tuesday meals? How will drivers go before it becomes cost prohibitive? In suburban areas, we would guess that most people do business within 3-4 miles from their home.
So we're thinking 3-5 sq mi areas would be most workable, about 5,000+ households each, or 10,000 people.
At first guess we figure there may be as many as 50,000 geographic opportunities. That doesn't count if two co-ops are competing in the same area. (Friendly competition is good, right? Look at McD/BK/Wendy's.)
It will be interesting to see this discussed with more enlightened answers in the round table discussions.
Forums and Civility
The "round table" discussion forums on platform design and best practices will give each category its own sub-forum.
A group of geographic forums will be included also.
What if people have differing opinions?
What if multiple people want to "run" the same area?
Our community expects civility. If people disagree, figure it out like mature adults either by compromise or flip a coin and move on accordingly.
Not Gate Keepers
For the record.... Our role is NOT to divide up and parcel out "areas."
Instead, the role of DeliveryCats Cooperatives is to design and create a system that ANY local delivery co-op can use: an open source platform (app) and an organizational template of suggested best practices.