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In 2019, 7.5 billion food deliveries were made in the UK alone. Then came the pandemic, and UK food deliveries skyrocketed by over 400% in the last three months of 2020. The food delivery market is now projected to reach £5 billion in value by the end of this year.
It’s not just food delivery that’s shaken up the direct-to-consumer market – consumers are looking for convenience in every aspect of their lives, from their grocery hauls to their retail shopping sprees. However, major food delivery players don’t offer a full range of delivery options, and they’ve actually left entire populations outside of major cities underserved. Entrepreneurs Kevin Williams and Dave Hamlet recognised a huge, untapped market within these rural areas, so in 2017, they co-founded Zoom 1hr – the all-in-one platform offering last mile delivery to high street retailers, restaurants, national chains and more. It doesn’t matter if you need groceries, Adidas sneakers or a gourmet burger, you can have it delivered to your doorstep in one hour, even in the UK’s smallest towns. In fact, delivery time at the moment is averaging around 24 minutes.
There are currently over 70,000 people using the Zoom 1hr app located across Wales and bordering English counties, which allows them to seamlessly order products from 357 listed stores, including a number of local, national and international partners such as Subway and KFC. In addition, Zoom 1hr recently landed a contract with Co-Op, allowing it to serve over 100 stores, with the potential for 3,600 more in the future. With 60% of Co-Op’s estate being rural, Zoom 1hr is well positioned to be its primary rural delivery partner.
While the delivery market has become highly competitive, especially in the last year, according to Zoom 1hr’s co-founders Kevin Williams and Dave Hamlet, the platform’s USP holds strong. It can “offer a larger delivery radius, a wider range of products for delivery and better value for partners, all with no hidden fees for consumers” – and that competitive advantage is reflected in the startup’s growth. Since launch, Zoom 1hr has facilitated more than 280,000 orders to its users, ranging from food to groceries to retail goods, and surpassed annual turnover of £665,000 (2019/2020). Boasting 108% growth already, the app’s 2021 national rollout will see more than 3,300 additional stores added to its roster.
Zoom 1hr has raised over £380,000 so far on Seedrs, and this crowdfunding round will serve to expand its fleet and finance further delivery equipment, driver workwear and PPE in order to conquer even more localities in 2021. From a tech perspective, a portion of the proceeds will also be dedicated to product development and bringing its IP in-house. One of the top features on Zoom 1hr’s roadmap is the ability to integrate fully with store catalogues, inventory updates in real-time.
So far, around 200 investors have come on board to help the Zoom 1hr team tackle its ambitious growth plans, and there’s still time to join them.
