01/08/2024
Hey everyone.
We opened our doors at DeliverMe on July 17, 2017, as a third-party restaurant delivery service (RDS). Since then, we've completed over 74,000 orders, serving areas like Millington, Shelby Forest, Atoka, Munford, Drummonds, Brighton, Arlington, Lakeland, Eads, and Hickory Withe.
Locally, prior to the emergence of industry giants like DoorDash and UberEats, local restaurants in Millington and its neighboring areas were hesitant to pay the 30% commission these platforms demanded. This model didn't align with the interests of small and independent restaurants who were focused on profitability over sales. In delivery, 30% is the bare minimum needed to make the model work and your local restaurants viewed delivery as having to offer a 30% discount on their product for no other reason than their customers wanting their food delivered to them. To address this, we adopted a hybrid RDS model, charging customers through menu markups while paying restaurants their full price. This approach allowed us to start operations successfully but lacked automation, requiring constant decision-making on our part. We were responsible, both reputationally and financially, for the customer experience.
The landscape changed dramatically with the entry of well-funded competitors like DoorDash. The industry resembled the impact of major retailers on local businesses in the past, such as when Walmart opened in suburban towns back in the 80's. Much like the disappearance of local independent grocery, clothing, and department stores, the number of local RDSs across the country has dwindled significantly. Shortly after we opened, we knew there were at least 475 independent RDSs in operation, and that number in 2023 has contracted to around 125 nationally.
As you are likely aware, our customer front end website at www.mydeliverme.com has seen changes over the years. While we started with a company called rdscloud.net as our original white label tech solution, we quickly outgrew their support capabilities and turned to other companies in the space in 2018 such as DeliverLogic. After internal support issues arose that were irreconcilable for our company, we switched in 2019 to DataDreamers, where we remained until Q2 2023. The current tech infrastructure faces significant compatibility issues between the old and new systems. Building a new tech stack from scratch would also prove extremely costly and risky, given the competitive and evolving nature of the industry, with the main competitor being a Fortune 500's Future 50 company with unlimited venture capital to spend to gain market share through 'any means necessary'. This is a company that could literally and has, run in the red, since its inception. Hey, DoorDash only lost 75 million dollars last quarter! /facepalm.
During this time, we stepped into catering setup and delivery after working in the RDS space with Baby Jacks owner Will Clem. Our experience in catering was very positive and this venture helped us refine DeliverMe and expand the catering operations of our company into a national delivery service provider for other clients such as ezCater, with our presence now from Seattle to Miami.
I was born and raised in Millington. Elizabeth, a midtown Memphis native, has been here since 2014. I have been and will remain dedicated to my hometown. With that said, Elizabeth and I are actively evaluating our immediate next steps to ensure our core service as a Delivery Service Provider aligns with the evolving landscape. One option is to shift our focus from being an order originator to concentrating solely on delivering orders that originate elsewhere outside of our platform, allowing us to streamline our operations and enhance our core mission.
During this evaluation period, the DeliverMe website will remain in an inactive state. Since the the delivery landscape is constantly changing, we have to ensure we make the correct and best strategic choices for our operations as a whole. We appreciate your continued support and we love each and every one of you for placing your trust in DeliverMe. We will keep you updated as we navigate these challenges and determine the best path forward.
Trey and Elizabeth Asbridge
