GoPuff, a popular consumer goods, and food delivery business in the United States has been in operation since 2013. It is one of the most successful online delivery businesses of the last decade. One of the major pillars of their growth is the on-demand delivery service. You’ve probably heard about them but don’t know much about their business model and the various ways they make money. Luckily we’ve done all the research for you in this article.
How does GoPuff make money? GoPuff makes money by marking up products, levying delivery fees, charging subscription fees for its membership program, and selling customer data to brands for advertisements.
On-demand delivery has continued to become a necessary component among American cities. Even if it is Uber Eats, Postmates, Lyft, or other apps, most people love the level of high convenience experienced when using delivery apps.
Currently, GoPuff is one of the growing delivery companies in the US with the promise of offering convenience to all customers. In this case, the GoPuff drivers undertake the deliveries, and the platform has become a flexible gig that can help you earn extra income if you own a vehicle.
GoPuff Revenue Sources
Delivery fees
When customers order products on GoPuff, they incur a standard delivery fee of $1.95, and the firm admits that it doesn’t hike or surge prices.
GuPuff delivers alcoholic beverages such as liquor, hard seltzer, beer, and wine for customers above 21 years to most cities. All orders that contain alcohol are charged an additional delivery fee of $2.
If you need an alcoholic beverage, you can check the order page at the app and enter your home address to confirm if GoPuff can deliver to your place.
You should also know that customers who order the beverages must offer a valid ID after the driver has delivered the goods. Further, the fee is meant to ensure that drivers comply with all rules regarding the delivery of alcohol products by verifying the associated ID.
Every order is supposed to have at least $10.95 as the total value to maintain a flat delivery fee. However, the company claims that fees are meant to cover delivery costs and not a profit for the firm.
Since the company operates its warehouses, in some cases, their delivery times can be faster.
GoPuff waives off the delivery fees for orders above $49. In this case, the firm generates adequate profit from the margin to substitute the costs.
Although GoPuff claims that its drivers can earn up to $75 every week, the actual amount varies from one driver to another. If you are a driver and sign up with GoPuff, you will be assigned to earn a monthly paycheck to complete that assigned tasks.
GoPuff has a pet food warehouse that they rent to clients to store their products for distribution globally. In particular, they have a contract distribution with distribution firms such as the Sam’s Club and Walmart, enabling them to sell their pet food as franchisers. Every delivery fee will be calculated according to the agreed percentage of the volume sold.
Membership
GoPuff designed a membership program known as GoPuff Fam, where consumers receive several benefits include not paying delivery fees for all orders and other discounts.
In this case, customers are expected to pay monthly subscription fees of $5.95.
Notably, the company uses this membership program to entice customers to use their platform frequently. As customers dedicate themselves to making a monthly subscription, they feel obliged to utilize it by making more orders.
Advertising
GoPuff engages in selling preferential product placements to different brands that wish to promote their products on this platform. Since customers make millions of orders every month, advertising at the GoPuff platform can be a valuable idea to most brands.
Also, GoPuff sells anonymized customer data regarding the products they advertise. In this case, the anonymized data includes how often customers buy a given product, the demographic involved, and when the customers are likely to purchase the product again.
One notable example consists of an ice-cream start-up named Nightfood that paid Gopuff approximately $600,000 to receive priority placement on their app. Under the deal, GoPuff has to offer insights to the start-up on the people buying their ice cream and the time they liked to buy it.
Markup
GoPuff differs from other delivery companies because it buys, stores, and sells its products using its inventory. Therefore, the company manages to make money by selling its products directly to consumers after determining their mark up.
In other words, the difference between the selling price and additional associated costs, including the purchase and storage of the products, comprises the profit that the company makes.
Consequently, most investors have continued to view the model to be more lucrative.
For instance, since GoPuff has access to its inventories, it has real-time information regarding its availability. Unfortunately, other delivery services might face running out of stock due to the disintegration of their partners, but GoPuff does not experience such cases.
The company’s order fulfillment has been proven to be faster since designated staff pick delivery drivers. In addition, such a case helps save time for a driver since they will not have to look for the products through several stores.
History of GoPuff
GoPuff is an on-demand grocery and food delivery service that operates in more than 550 cities in the United States. The company is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
University students named Rafel Ilishayev and Yakir Gola founded the company in 2013. In particular, they started with the idea of restocking their college townhouse with essential goods and snacks.
However, they realized that it took them more time to visit the store repeatedly to re-supply the required goods. Also, the process affected their ability to effectively balance their time with friends, family, and work.
After three months, they opted to design an app that would ease the distribution process. The co-founders convinced the local distributors to collaborate with them, and the company continued to grow up to date.
How does GoPuff work?
Customers can place their orders from GoPuff using its mobile app for Android or iOS or use their website.
After entering the delivery location, the customers are directed to an inventory to access the selection for their local GoPuff warehouse. A customer can add items into their cart and make an online payment like other digital order platforms.
When you place an order at GoPuff, the system automatically notifies the warehouse staff who the items from the warehouse and packages them. The packages are held in bins that are specific to every driver. In particular, a driver will be required to deliver orders within a specific location for easy distribution.
You will receive automatic notifications regarding every delivery step through customized text messages, and the driver will call you after arriving at your destination.
Since the vertically integrated delivery model eliminates the middlemen, the company manages to deliver customer orders within 15 to 30 minutes after processing an order.
Further, GoPuff does not have a minimum order value, meaning you can order the product of your choice in any quantity and at any time.
GoPuff provides more than 3,000 products. The products you can order include pet products, personal care products, home essentials, smoking accessories, over-the-counter medication, ice cream, snacks, alcoholic drinks, non-alcoholic drinks, ready-to-eat meals, and frozen foods.
GoPuff covers several regions, including Atlanta, Denver, Chicago, Boston, Austin, Washington, DC, Phoenix, Orlando, Nashville, Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Houston.
It is always good that you confirm that GoPuff has a warehouse within your state or nearest metropolitan city before you make any order using the app.
What modes of payment does GoPuff use?
Although GoPuff is flexible in different ways, it supports a few payment methods. In particular, when you are paying for your delivery, you can use cash, credit cards, and debit cards.
The service accepts major cards such as Discover, MasterCard, American Express, and VISA. In reality, most delivery companies do not offer the cash option that GoPuff provides.
How GoPuff is Different from Other Delivery Platforms
GoPuff is a unique delivery company because it has emerged as the first platform to eliminate intermediaries to become a one-stop shop.
The following the supply chain factors that assist in contributing to its uniqueness.
Contract drivers
GoPuff does not hire intermediaries or third-party courier service providers to deliver their orders. Instead, the company contracts individual people with their vehicles who work as gig workers in their free time.
Such a strategy assists in speeding up the delivery process and prevents the company from incurring fuel bills.
Although the GoPuff customers can tip the drivers, the paycheck of the drivers will not depend on that. Instead, the drivers will be paid based on the volume, and they can make an average amount ranging between $10 to $20 per hour.
Upfront inventory
Since GoPuff owns physical stores, it purchases bulk products for their warehouses at wholesale from suppliers. That ensures that it achieves low prices and eliminates the need to over-rely on delivery fees to generate profit.
Most importantly, the firm has designed a predictive algorithm that consistently monitors every location to ensure it has adequate stock to minimize the need to run out of stock and customers going for substitute products.
Personally owned warehouses
Instead of acting as a service that collects products from collaborated businesses, the company owns local stores to house the available inventory in the areas it serves. Therefore, an order will be directly delivered from the store to the customer.
A combination of the above factors leads to a quick and truly convenient offering. Apart from that, GoPuff can sell similar products sold by its competitors and even deliver them with reduced overhead costs.
How much money can you make when you work at GoPuff?
You might become excited when you see how convenient and easy it is to work with GoPuff.
Unlike other delivery firms such as Lyft and Uber, GoPuff does not use surge pricing. That means its fees do not change regardless of the time of the day that people make their orders. However, such pricing cannot affect the amount of money that you make as a driver.
Generally, the following are the ways of earning money with GoPuff:
Deliveries: You will be paid some money for every delivery that you undertake. In this case, the exact amount that you can make will depend on the delivery distance.
Tips: In some cases, customers can tip you with cash or credit cards through the app when you make a delivery. You can keep the money, but the customer tips made using the app will be included in your weekly pay. However, you should monitor your tip money to know the amount you will receive during the pay date accurately.
What are the GoPuff delivery requirements for drivers?
If you wish to qualify to become a delivery driver, you should meet the following requirements:
- Pass a background check.
- Have a valid United States driver’s license.
- Vehicle registration and insurance.
- Must be at least 21 years old.
- Own a smartphone.
- Be able and willing to pass a pre-paid alcoholic beverage delivery training course.
- Access to a car with an insurance policy indicated that you could drive it.
GoPuff does not have demanding requirements. Therefore, you might qualify provided you are insured to drive a car, and you are above 21 years.
Pros of working with GoPuff
- Experience is not needed.
- It will depend on you regarding how much money you can make and if you can be successful.
- The opportunity can suit students since drivers set their schedules.
- Self-employed drivers can earn delivery fees and tips for every delivery.
- Drivers will know precisely where their trips start and the final destination.
Cons of working for GoPuff
- The staff conducts repetitive calls, which can be tedious.
- Stress is one of the inevitable components of the courier industry.
- The company does not reimburse for mileage or gas, and any damage that occurs to your car will force you to use your money to repair it.
- The company covers a limited market.
From the above guide, you can realize that the company has continued to deliver its services according to customer expectations despite the minor flaws.
GoPuff is available 24 hours, affordable and convenient for both customers and staff. In most cases, the deliveries are faster, and the company provides more products than you can imagine.
Although its delivery scope is still small, it is continuing to expand. As people continue to realize the potential of GoPuff, the platform might become one of the favorite ways to help people in shopping for essentials and food.
Conclusion: How Does GoPuff Make Money?
We’ve reached the end of this guide. In this article, we’ve covered exactly how GoPuff works and its business model in detail. We hope you got all the information you need about ‘how does GoPuff make money.’
Considering all that GoPuff provides and how they provide this service, it looks like they’ve got a really great business model and revenue streams in place. They may not be out to ‘completely disrupt’ the delivery market. Still, they are definitely shaking up their segment and attracting new customers through the unique value proposition of rapid delivery at an affordable price.
Thanks for reading this article. We hope you enjoyed the article and it answered all your questions. If you have any suggestions for us, feel free to drop us an email.
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