Deliv Inc., a California corporation registered in Delaware, has hired Amazon’s logistics manager Jeff Helms as head of its delivery operations. Deliv, a crowd sourced delivery service, offers users same-day deliveries from their favorite retailers. 

Deliv is used by major malls including Westfield and by a variety of retailers including Brookstone, Crate & Barrel, Godiva, LensCrafters and Williams-Sonoma. For approximately $5 per delivery, users within a certain geographical radius of the participating stores can have their purchases delivered to them the same day regardless of whether the items were purchased in the store, online or through Deliv’s mobile application. 

As part of their debut, mall owners at General Growth tried to acquaint and perhaps addict users by offering Deliv services for free. The startup allows retailers to entice their customers to purchase more items by offering delivery of their items whenever and wherever they wish. The service is available 7 days a week from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm and items can be delivered anywhere including users’ work, home, hotel room or just a coffee shop. The only catch; the items can only be delivered within a 15 mile radius of participating stores. 

When a user places an order and elects for same-day delivery, Deliv receives and relays the order to a “runner” employed by the retailers. The runner then gathers the purchased items from the retailers and sorts them at a “consolidation point” in the store. A driver then picks up the items from the mall and delivers the items to the users. 

Startup CEO Daphne Carmeli first started the company two and a half years ago. Today, the startup has raised $12.5 million in funding and has almost 200 participating retailers. To keep prices low, the company has taken out middlemen such as trucks and shipping hubs and rather relies on private drivers who use their own cars. Large shopping malls also help keep prices low because the more items picked up and delivered by one driver the more cost-effective is the system. 

Depending on their location, drivers must meet different criteria to be accepted as drivers. For example, in San Francisco, drivers must have their own vehicles that are from 1998 or newer with a valid drivers license and insurance and clean driving record. Drivers must be 21 years of age or older with at least 4 years experience driving vehicles. In addition, drivers must have completed at least high school and have no criminal record. 

Each driver is assigned a pick up based on their customer rating and make and model of their car. For example, if a user purchases a TV, Deliv will not assign a Fiat or convertible to pick up the item. Drivers are paid between $12 to $15 an hour and get reimbursed for gas. And similar to ride-sharing services like Uber, users can map out their drivers’ path through an emailed or texted link.

Hiring Helms will help Deliv reach a much larger audience than it already has. While with Amazon, Helm oversaw same and next-day deliveries of Amazon Fresh groceries and other Amazon products using nontraditional delivery services. It is a perfect time to join a company that positions itself as an ally to retailers in their battle against Amazon said Helms.

Topics: Amazon, Apps, Small Business, Startups