Get It Delivered With Zipments | Los Angeles Begins Delivery
A number of web services has popped up in recent years that has helped cater to people with busy lives. Zipments is a web service that connects your delivery needs with couriers in your area. I recently spoke with Laura Pecherski and asked her a few questions about Zipments.
What was the motivation to start Zipments and when did you open for business?
The company’s co-founders have a background in mobile application development and together built the first mobile app for one of the largest overnight delivery companies in the United States. Around the same time, Garrick’s wife, mother of four, was ready to head back into the workforce. Her desire for flexible work got Garrick thinking – wouldn’t it be great for her to have a site to go on each day to look for jobs in her area to do in her spare time?
A few months later, Zipments was born. (May 4, 2011 was the official launch date)
How does Zipments differ from other services, such as TaskRabbit?
Zipments focuses on delivery. We are a logistics platform that enables three things:
1. People getting items delivered from local merchants.
Examples: lunch, cupcakes, prescription2. Businesses delivering their products & goods to their customers.
Examples: home delivery of produce, coffee, baked goods3. People moving items from one point to another
Examples: couch, package to the post office, donation itemsServices like TaskRabbit enable all sorts of transactions & they do a great job of connecting neighbors together to accomplish tasks. Zipments, however is built specifically with delivery in mind. Our mobile application routes pickup and delivery locations and allows you to confirm that the job was completed right from your phone. In addition, our job posting allows businesses to set multiple dropoff locations so they can deploy an entire delivery route in one job.
What about privacy issues? Do you perform background checks on potential couriers?
Zipments couriers have three requirements: a verified, text-enabled cell phone, a valid email address and a verified PayPal account. As a reputation-based marketplace, Zipments customers can review profile information of couriers who bid on their jobs before they select them to perform the job. They can also review past deliveries the courier has done, and any comments past customers have left them.
Are you looking to expand to other cities?
Currently, Zipments.com is functional anywhere in the U.S.. However, in order to build the supply of couriers and the delivery jobs, we are planning to focus on growing specific cities before the end of the year.
If someone wants to use Zipments for delivery in their city, we are happy to help them grow a base of couriers there to serve them and others.
Zipments is a quick, simple and affordable alternative to traditional courier devices. With Zipments you don’t have to work around the schedules of FedEx, UPS or the USPS. If you need something sent, you can easily post it to Zipments and choose the best bid. For those looking to make extra cash, this is a great way to earn cash on the side if you’ve got a car and some spare time. They are in doing a special LA courier and Info mixer here in Los Angeles on Thursday, September 1. Let us know what you think about Zipments in the comments.
