“Wait, so… what exactly do you guys do?”
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked this. I have my own little monologue that I run through as a response, could probably say it in my sleep. But still, I’m not sure people always understand what our goal is. So instead of giving you all my “we’re a technology company that offers same day delivery” mantra, I want to tell you a story.
We’ve all been there- it’s 2pm and you’re at work and realize you have to stay late even though you were really hoping to swing by Best Buy before you have to pick your kid up from T-ball. Or you’re sick and the last thing in the world you want to do is get out of sweatpants and in to a Target so you can get some NyQuil. Once when I was a college student, I dropped my phone while walking to class and had to wait an entire weekend before getting the chance to go get another one. Tragic, I know.
Meet Annette Beutjer, a SuperWoman in so many ways- but hey, even SuperWoman doesn’t always have time to make a Target run. Busy, active, and with more grandkids than arms to hold them with, Annette uses our service for those days where the idea of someone else going out to get an order for her is like Christmas. When Annette first started using our service, she was a little hesitant.
“Honestly, I’m a little surprised at how big a fan I am”, she told me. She and her husband, Tim, were at home one morning when she remembered she needed something from Best Buy. She had seen some ads for Shipt on Facebook, heard about it from a friend, and decided to give it a try. Within a couple hours, her Best Buy order was on it’s way up her driveway. They couldn’t believe it. Before she had closed her door behind the Pilot, Tim looked at her and said, “So, is there anything else we could order?”
That day, she and Tim put in another order from Target and again, a Pilot was ringing the doorbell, a Tangled fold-up sofa for her granddaughter in tow, in just under an hour this time.
“It’s such a modern concept but it just fits so well in everyday life. I’m going to be busy, regardless. Now I can choose what I want to be busy with. Do I want to be busy going out to Target and back? No. I like to shop, sure. But when it’s shopping for necessity and not for fun, it’s a chore. No one wants to do that. Now I don’t have to.”
It’s obvious to anyone that’s been in this spectacular city for more than 5 minutes- Birmingham is being revived. After being gone for a few years, I came back to a town that’s rubbing it’s sleepy eyes after being quiet for far too long. This city is tired of hitting the snooze button- and, finally, we’re looking around at the possibilities in a new day. And that’s what we are. A possibility. We’re a new idea in a city that’s beginning to love new ideas.