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Fresh produce delivery business gets smarter with new app

Fresh produce delivery business gets smarter with new app

EasyDrop app live tracks different deliveries, factoring in real-time traffic data to re-calculate schedules as issues arise

Fresh Venture Group's Snowgoose brand, which delivers fruit hampers, is using an app that live tracks orders and helps make more accurate estimated time of arrivals.

EasyDrop – which was first developed during a Coca-Cola hackathon in 2013 and further developed in Transport for NSW hackathon last year – factors in real-time traffic data to re-calculate schedules as traffic issues arise.

The enterprise version of the app, which is in development now, allows companies to book drivers in addition to live tracking and integration with ERP.

Users plan and manage deliveries through a Web dashboard, with the driver able to collect proof of delivery such as a signature, photos and notes.

“We have an awful lot of deliveries that go to a broad spectrum of clients, and there are always queries around proof of delivery, how long until something gets delivered, and because we are dealing with fresh produce it’s not an electronic good that can comfortable transition in the mail,” said Fresh Venture Group’s managing director, Graham Stephens.

“A lot of what we are delivering are gifts, and they need to arrive at a particular day and time. So it’s not like you order say, a laptop and it’ll come to at some point over the next three to five days. Those requirements don’t suit us, so we need something that’s a lot more real time and that functionality just does not exist with existing technology platforms within courier companies.”

Stephens said there are a lot of technologies in the market but they are clunky, very delayed, or deliver inaccurate information.

When working with up to 30 different courier companies, having a straightforward dashboard to easily manage several deliveries is what makes the app attractive, Stephens said.

“It will give us real valuable information in terms of being able to communicate with the customer and advise them on where things are.”

Being able to accurately quote customers on their deliveries is also what makes the app attractive, Graham said.

“Most courier organisations charge on an hourly rate and for how long it takes to do something you trust their systems, but their systems are obviously biased to maximise their billings to you.

“We are doing thousands of deliveries every month, so you can’t be reviewing thousands of charges in increments of half an hour or an hour. This will give us material ROI in terms of keeping other organisations honest about how much time it’s taking to do things,” he said.

The enterprise version of the app will be available for free on iTunes and Google Play on 15 April.

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Tags appsreal time data analyticstransport appsEasyDrop

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