6 ms·

The reason this would work in Beijing or for that matter anywhere in Asia is how the delivery itself works. The delivery guys use scooters or motorcycles in a d

by rajeshp1986 8y ago

The reason this would work in Beijing or for that matter anywhere in Asia is how the delivery itself works. The delivery guys use scooters or motorcycles in a densely populated area which reduces the cost of delivery. Food delivery startups are not able to scale up in markets like US where delivery guys are expected to use their own cars, pay for gas and high insurance while delivering you $10 dollar food. How are these companies supposed to make profits?

jdfellow 8y ago
Is there some reason that much of the US you couldn't deliver food by bicycle or a small motorcycle like a Honda Super Cub?
- Glyptodon 8y ago
  Population density and delivery demand. But you probably need deliveries/hour/employee higher than is sustainable to make pricing palatable with "free shipping syndrome" and all.
- imgabe 8y ago
  I live in DC and there are definitely delivery places that use scooters.
- noobermin 8y ago
  The US is pretty sprawled and completely disallows it.
- calvinbhai 8y ago
  population density, speeds (in suburbs near the big metro areas, you are still going to be at a much higher speed) which mean not so safe riding speeds, weather (main reason why car is needed for delivery), lack of low cost 2-wheelers are the supporting infra (for maintenance or sales). I think e-bikes + delivery can make a dent, but only in the super dense cities where ebikes/escooters are popular/available.
  - SilasX 8y ago
    Isn't it also a factor that, in SF, small vehicles need extra time to secure or they'll be stolen?
    - calvinbhai 8y ago
      I think that's true in many places in the US, not just SF. Mostly cities though.
Glyptodon 8y ago
Probably need drone delivery for it to work in the US. So we might have to wait for a world where houses come with drone dumbwaiters disguised as chimneys.
- philipodonnell 8y ago
  That will be a great remodeling of current chimneys. Most people I know in the south have them sealed off or gas fireplaces they rarely use.
- LifeLiverTransp 8y ago
  Wouldnt a deliver balcony built into a window be more optimal?
  - Glyptodon 8y ago
    I don't really know overall, but at least where I live there seems to be cons. 1. At street level it's easy for people outside the house to grab things from it (without having a theft drone, ha ha). 2. In my neighborhood houses often have porch coverings or are too close together for there to be good drone landing places at windows. 3. There are no people to accidentally run into on roofs (usually). Of course in an apartment complexes and such not everyone has a roof, and people can't just grab stuff outside of the ground floor so a window ledge would make sense. Probably not one size fits all, really.
- Balgair 8y ago
  ZAAAAP. "I think the Dugarts ordered something wrong. Or a lot of things" That's the only explanation that Mom could come up with. The drones had been buzzing overhead all day long. Dad was getting really annoyed when they kept coming at night. Like clockwork, every two minutes, for nine hours and counting. One would come, drop off the medium sized box on the little 'Apiary TM', fly away, and hit the powerlines. ZAAAAP. The lights in the house would flicker, but nothing much past that. The drones, about a meter wide, with eight propellers and those little sick legs, started piling up in the Dugart's and Garcia's back yards. There were hundreds piled up now. The cops came, and the firefighters too. Eventually PG&E guys came out to shut down the power, but they found that the line was the only one that was providing electricity to the Firehouse. So, to power was kept on. For safety reasons. ZAAAAP. Another one dropped the package, flew up, and promptly killed itself. Mrs. Dugart wouldn't tell Mom what was in the boxes. Her face got real red when I asked her. Must be something embarrassing. Mom said that they tried calling it in, but the hotline directed them to an email to send. So, the cops sent an email. The reply email said it may take two weeks for a response. So the cops drove off. Then the firetrucks left. ZAAAAP. When Mrs. Dugart was tols to take her "Rookery TM" down, she thought it was a good idea. Then one of the drones tried to deliver the package to our house. Mrs. Dugart got really embarrassed then. So she put the little platform back up, this time with a tilt so that the packages would just slide off once delivered. She ran around trying to pick them all up just as soon as they landed, dodging the falling drones in her backyard. ZAAAAP.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
adventured 8y ago
> Food delivery startups are not able to scale up in markets like US where delivery guys are expected to use their own cars, pay for gas and high insurance while delivering you $10 dollar food. How are these companies supposed to make profits? I'm not sure how you figure that is the case. Pizza delivery has been a thriving business almost everywhere in the US for decades. Domino's is a booming $10 billion pizza chain built on delivery (sales up over 50% in three years, for a 60 year old business). You'll find that most every college town even has numerous food delivery options (restaurants & shops that deliver) and that that has been the case for decades.
- larrik 8y ago
  The margins on pizza are crazy. You're probably looking at a dollar or less in materials cost for a cheese pizza.
  - adventured 8y ago
    Jimmy John's makes delivery work (entirely without pizza) as one prominent example, with 2,800 locations. It has been one of the keys to their success.
    - WrtCdEvrydy 8y ago
      Yes, but they limit their delivery zone to make it happen. I wonder if this will be the future of food, more and more smaller franchises that just do delivery for the larger restaurants.
      - ReptileMan 8y ago
        Isn't limiting zone delivery standard - where I live every chain has a zone - usually 10-15 mins away fron the place. And there aee whole parts of the city they don't deliver.
        WrtCdEvrydy 8y ago

jdfellow 8y ago

Is there some reason that much of the US you couldn't deliver food by bicycle or a small motorcycle like a Honda Super Cub?

Glyptodon 8y ago
Population density and delivery demand. But you probably need deliveries/hour/employee higher than is sustainable to make pricing palatable with "free shipping syndrome" and all.
imgabe 8y ago
I live in DC and there are definitely delivery places that use scooters.
noobermin 8y ago
The US is pretty sprawled and completely disallows it.
calvinbhai 8y ago
population density, speeds (in suburbs near the big metro areas, you are still going to be at a much higher speed) which mean not so safe riding speeds, weather (main reason why car is needed for delivery), lack of low cost 2-wheelers are the supporting infra (for maintenance or sales). I think e-bikes + delivery can make a dent, but only in the super dense cities where ebikes/escooters are popular/available.
- SilasX 8y ago
  Isn't it also a factor that, in SF, small vehicles need extra time to secure or they'll be stolen?
  - calvinbhai 8y ago
    I think that's true in many places in the US, not just SF. Mostly cities though.

Glyptodon 8y ago

Probably need drone delivery for it to work in the US. So we might have to wait for a world where houses come with drone dumbwaiters disguised as chimneys.

philipodonnell 8y ago
That will be a great remodeling of current chimneys. Most people I know in the south have them sealed off or gas fireplaces they rarely use.
LifeLiverTransp 8y ago
Wouldnt a deliver balcony built into a window be more optimal?
- Glyptodon 8y ago
  I don't really know overall, but at least where I live there seems to be cons. 1. At street level it's easy for people outside the house to grab things from it (without having a theft drone, ha ha). 2. In my neighborhood houses often have porch coverings or are too close together for there to be good drone landing places at windows. 3. There are no people to accidentally run into on roofs (usually). Of course in an apartment complexes and such not everyone has a roof, and people can't just grab stuff outside of the ground floor so a window ledge would make sense. Probably not one size fits all, really.
Balgair 8y ago
ZAAAAP. "I think the Dugarts ordered something wrong. Or a lot of things" That's the only explanation that Mom could come up with. The drones had been buzzing overhead all day long. Dad was getting really annoyed when they kept coming at night. Like clockwork, every two minutes, for nine hours and counting. One would come, drop off the medium sized box on the little 'Apiary TM', fly away, and hit the powerlines. ZAAAAP. The lights in the house would flicker, but nothing much past that. The drones, about a meter wide, with eight propellers and those little sick legs, started piling up in the Dugart's and Garcia's back yards. There were hundreds piled up now. The cops came, and the firefighters too. Eventually PG&E guys came out to shut down the power, but they found that the line was the only one that was providing electricity to the Firehouse. So, to power was kept on. For safety reasons. ZAAAAP. Another one dropped the package, flew up, and promptly killed itself. Mrs. Dugart wouldn't tell Mom what was in the boxes. Her face got real red when I asked her. Must be something embarrassing. Mom said that they tried calling it in, but the hotline directed them to an email to send. So, the cops sent an email. The reply email said it may take two weeks for a response. So the cops drove off. Then the firetrucks left. ZAAAAP. When Mrs. Dugart was tols to take her "Rookery TM" down, she thought it was a good idea. Then one of the drones tried to deliver the package to our house. Mrs. Dugart got really embarrassed then. So she put the little platform back up, this time with a tilt so that the packages would just slide off once delivered. She ran around trying to pick them all up just as soon as they landed, dodging the falling drones in her backyard. ZAAAAP.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

adventured 8y ago

> Food delivery startups are not able to scale up in markets like US where delivery guys are expected to use their own cars, pay for gas and high insurance while delivering you $10 dollar food. How are these companies supposed to make profits? I'm not sure how you figure that is the case. Pizza delivery has been a thriving business almost everywhere in the US for decades. Domino's is a booming $10 billion pizza chain built on delivery (sales up over 50% in three years, for a 60 year old business). You'll find that most every college town even has numerous food delivery options (restaurants & shops that deliver) and that that has been the case for decades.

larrik 8y ago
The margins on pizza are crazy. You're probably looking at a dollar or less in materials cost for a cheese pizza.
- adventured 8y ago
  Jimmy John's makes delivery work (entirely without pizza) as one prominent example, with 2,800 locations. It has been one of the keys to their success.
  - WrtCdEvrydy 8y ago
    Yes, but they limit their delivery zone to make it happen. I wonder if this will be the future of food, more and more smaller franchises that just do delivery for the larger restaurants.
    - ReptileMan 8y ago
      Isn't limiting zone delivery standard - where I live every chain has a zone - usually 10-15 mins away fron the place. And there aee whole parts of the city they don't deliver.
      - WrtCdEvrydy 8y ago