#“21st Century Milkman”
We've recently started using a new milkman after a many year gap and I've been thinking a lot about him. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, the co-ops/creameries basically shut down the in-house milkmen and many of them became independent businesses. I had thought it would be a slow inexorable death for them because of price-competition from the big supermarkets. We stopped using the one in Kimmage in the mid-90s because our milk demands were so variable and he only delivered on certain days.
Then this new guy appeared in Bandon and I realised that he's not really a milkman, he's a local delivery man. I think that type of business could have a big future. His core problem, the fact that his milk is wayyyy more expensive than Tesco, is mitigated by all the other things he does and could do. He offers multiple types of milk, eggs, juice and now the Saturday paper. We've signed up for the lot. He recently announced we can pay by EFT!
But this could just be the start. Imagine if he was fully web, SMS and mobile-app enabled? Then add Realex/Worldpay and PayPal. Whatever you needed, within reason, you could order from him, with maybe 6-8 hours notice. Imagine if he didn't just deliver early in the morning but combined that with a slot system like Tesco for later in the day?
People happily pay through the nose for the convenience of a local Spar/Centra/etc vs Tesco prices. Surely they would pay for even more convenience to have things delivered to their door? Hell, he could even buy the stuff in Tesco and still get margin if he was more flexible than them.
Could it be, dare I say it, a workable Webvan model?