What MiniDrop does for your business

It is 7 pm. Four orders are packed on your counter. Your rider is out, a customer is calling to ask where their parcel is, and someone has just sent a location pin on WhatsApp that nobody can open.

If this sounds like your evening, you do not have a delivery problem. You have a way-of-working problem. Delivery works fine when you have two orders a day. It starts to hurt when you have twenty.

MiniDrop is delivery management software for local businesses that deliver with their own riders. It puts your orders, your riders and your customers on one screen, so a busy day stays calm. This guide explains in plain words what changes, and whether it fits your shop.

The hidden cost of "just call the rider"#

Most shops start the same way. The order comes in, you write the address on a slip or send it on WhatsApp, and you call the rider to explain the way. It works, because you are standing right there.

The cost shows up slowly:

• Your time. Every order needs a call, a message or a pin. At the busiest hour, that is exactly when you have no time.

• Extra kilometres. When each rider picks the order of stops by guesswork, the same roads get driven twice. That is fuel and time you pay for.

• Mistakes. The wrong parcel goes to the wrong rider. A building number is read wrongly. A customer is not at home because nobody told them when to expect the rider.

• Phone calls from customers. "Where is my order?" is the most expensive question in local delivery, because it lands on the person who should be packing the next order.

• No record. When a customer says the order was late, you have only memory to answer with.

None of this is anyone's fault. It is what happens when a delivery team runs on phone calls.

What changes on day one#

MiniDrop replaces the phone calls with one simple system. These are the parts you will use every day:

• Your own riders, on one screen. You add your delivery staff once. Then you can see who is free, who is on a trip and which orders each rider is carrying.

• Trips planned for you. New orders wait in a queue. When you press Dispatch now, MiniDrop splits them across your riders and puts each rider's stops in a sensible order. It respects how many orders a rider can carry and any delivery windows you have set.

• You stay in control. Before anything goes out, you see each rider's route on a map. Change it if you know something MiniDrop does not, then approve it.

• A simple rider app. Each rider gets their trips on their phone: stops in order, the customer's name, address and phone number, and one-tap directions. A notification tells them when a new trip arrives.

• A tracking link for every customer. Customers get a private link that shows your shop's name and logo, how many stops are before theirs, and an estimate of arrival once the rider is on the way.

Behind all of this is a record of every delivery, with its timeline. If someone asks what happened to an order, you can look it up instead of guessing.

Plan, assign, track, done#

Here is what an ordinary delivery looks like once MiniDrop is running your shop:

1. 1

   Step 1: The order arrives

   A customer orders from your shop. You add the delivery in the outlet portal, which is MiniDrop's screen for you and your staff. Repeat customers have their address saved, so the next order is quicker. If you use billing software or an online store, it can be set up to send orders to MiniDrop on its own.

2. 2

   Step 2: You press Dispatch

   The queued orders are split across your online riders, and each rider's stops are arranged into one trip. You can also set dispatch to run on a schedule, every few minutes or at fixed times of the day.

3. 3

   Step 3: You review and approve

   You look at each rider's route on the map, move a stop if you want, and approve. Nothing reaches a rider until you do.

4. 4

   Step 4: Riders deliver

   Each rider opens the trip on their phone and follows the stops. They mark every order as picked up, delivered, not delivered or on hold. A pickup code makes sure the right rider takes the right package.

5. 5

   Step 5: Everyone can see it

   You watch the riders on a live map and read each order's status. Your customer follows their own order on the tracking link, so they do not need to call you.

Why your own riders are an asset#

When your own riders deliver, they know your shop, your products and your neighbourhood. Customers learn their faces. That relationship is yours.

The trouble has never been the riders. It has been the work around them: planning, instructions and follow-up. MiniDrop does that work, so your riders can do what they are good at, and you can do what you are good at.

It also keeps things fair and visible. Every rider's workload is on the screen, so you can see who has too much, who has too little and who is free for the next order.

Three jobs you can stop doing#

1. Explaining the way. The rider sees every stop in order, with the customer's address and a button for directions.

2. Answering "where is my order?" The customer sees it on their own tracking link.

3. Guessing who is free. The rider list shows who is free and who is on a trip.

These three jobs take most of the phone time in a delivery business. Removing them is what makes the evening feel different.

What your customers see#

The tracking link is the part your customers notice. It carries your store's name and logo, not ours. It shows how many stops the rider has before theirs, gives an arrival estimate once the rider is on the way, and shows the rider's first name with a button to call.

The link is private to that order. It stops working a day after delivery and it never appears in search engines. Read more about how it ends "where is my order" calls.

Who MiniDrop is for#

MiniDrop is built for businesses that deliver to their customers with their own riders. That includes meat shops, fish shops, restaurants, delivery-only kitchens, pharmacies, bakeries, grocery stores, supermarkets, fruit and vegetable stores, pet food stores, flower shops and retail stores. See the page for your type of business.

If you only sell through delivery apps and never use your own riders, MiniDrop is not what you need today. If you have even one rider of your own, it probably is.

The reason is simple. A shop with one rider has the same problems as a shop with ten, only fewer of them: addresses to explain, a rider to guide, customers who want to know where their order is. The software grows with you, so you can start with one rider and add more when you need them.

What you need to start#

Very little:

• An email address you can open, to sign up.

• Your shop's name and address.

• A smartphone for each rider. The rider app runs on Android.

There is nothing to install on your own computer. You use the outlet portal in your web browser. The first-week plan shows how to be sending real deliveries within a week.

Frequently asked questions#

Delivery should not run your day. Give your riders a plan, give your customers a link, and take your evenings back.

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