90-Minute Delivery Solutions for Busy Executives

Q: What market opportunity resulted in the creation of an app for express delivery of packages?

A: iVoy initiated operations in 2011 as a 90-minute delivery company, having identified a need across all types of companies and self-employed people operating in the hectic capital of Mexico. Delivery and distribution issues are changing around the globe, so e-commerce will soon be the main way of doing business. Countries are already investing heavily in creating the ideal environment for managing successful online commerce. This tendency may eradicate all other levels of the commercial chain, but not distribution. Ultimately, goods that are sold electronically still have to reach a destination and the savings generated by using e-commerce can ultimately be invested in logistics and distribution. ClickOnero helped us develop our network as we are part of the same group. They allowed us to run trials with them, and perfect our logistics and distribution dynamics before we offered our services to other companies. We provide solutions for large e-commerce companies, smaller enterprises and entrepreneurs who do not have the resources to build a distribution network, or do not want to invest in logistics to avoid taking the focus from their core business. We offer low costs and efficient channels of distribution, coupled with brand and image security. Today, we are working with Fedex and DHL, as well as Ingram Micro, Brightstar, Iusacell, and Samsung, all of which inspire us to expand our logistics knowledge.

Q: What have been the main challenges of introducing this service in the Mexican market?

A: The challenges that we have faced largely involve improving the efficiency of our systems to increase our operators’ speed, company safety, and coverage. Realistically, more traffic plays in our favor because it creates inconveniences for our clients. This has pushed us to consider other cities, such as Guadalajara. By the end of 2015, we will also start operations in Monterrey in line with our plan to operate a runway from Mexico City to Monterrey. It has been difficult to keep our 90-minute promise due to the way in which Mexico City is structured, but the solution that we implemented was to create partnerships with companies that are experts on the city layout, and to train operators for specific areas. When recruiting staff, we choose responsible people with  relevant experience, and we operate quality delivery control. The best indicator that we have is feedback from customers regarding our operator’s service.

Q: How do you make sure that your fleet stays well maintained in order to keep availability?

A: We have a mixture of vehicles, some are owned and some are leased, depending on our needs and expansion. iVoy has its own service facility where we perform ongoing maintenance on the vehicles we own. In terms of the independent vehicles that we run with our phone application, each operator is responsible for his or her own car. We audit these specific types of vehicles on a regular basis to make sure that everything is in order. We can respond swiftly to growth because of the way we hire operators, and because we plan our service based on each month’s closing results and reprogram for the forthcoming month. Our delivery drivers have their own motorcycles and they are relatively autonomous, which means that we only need to focus on advancing our technologies and systems in order to offer the best possible service.

Q: What innovations do you have planned for 2015?

A: The existing application is receiving favorable user ratings and over 95% of our deliveries reach the recipient in less than 90 minutes, as promised. We recently launched our website, which is more powerful than the application. The application allows a user to move a package from point A to point B, but the website lets them trace a route with different checkpoints. Our prices are more competitive and our delivery times are better with iVoy’s online platform, which also allows clients to request an invoice online. Our express service can be offered either via the phone application or our customer service call center, through which the customer’s location can automatically be defined, along with time projections, cost, and the operator that will deliver, before the user’s credit card is automatically charged. iVoy is also working on expanding its e-commerce customer base while improving logistics and operations. The small package market is increasing every day, and we plan to expand in line with market trends. In the long term, we also intend to deliver large merchandise involving small truck owners who can offer these services.