We have on many occasions covered the state of eCommerce in Zimbabwe paying particular attention to what stands in the way of its flourishing. While there are many factors one of the biggest ones has been poor logistics and postal systems. Fast Delivery is a startup that provides a solution for this by offering not just fast but also insured delivery services.
The company offers premium delivery of packages, so anything from your documents to eCommerce goods fit right in there. They also offer food delivery for businesses that want to outsource their delivery service. Fast Delivery has a broad customer outlook that includes individuals, businesses and government institutions and everything in between. The goal of the business is to provide premium delivery service in an affordable package.
The business is currently working under an incubator agreement with BancABC. After seeing the success of logistics and delivery businesses in South Africa they decided to bring the same convenience they have seen to Zimbabwe and the results have proven to be well worth it. The team is growing and so is the client book.
Services
Fast-D as they like to be affectionately known offers 4 services. Same day express, same-day express-late, overnight courier and same-day express fast. Let’s run through these to understand how the business works.
Same day express
This offers delivery of a package within 90 minutes of it being handed over to them. For your urgent documents and eCommerce packages, you can look at this service. They guarantee this as long as they have the package before 3 pm.
Same day express late
For packages that become ready for collection after 3 pm but still need to be delivered the same day. The appeal with this one is for eCommerce deliveries that need to be made after hours, perhaps due to the availability of the recipient. They also promise 90 minute delivery on this.
Overnight courier
Overnight courier is just what it sounds like. They will deliver the package the following day by 11 am. They do offer the advantage of nominating a delivery time with this service which may come in very handy.
Same day express fast
Same day express fast offers same-day delivery on packages but is not bound by time. Rather the sender can nominate the time they wish for the package to arrive at the recipient.
Pricing
Their pricing is worked out on a weight/distance scale. Distance is measured from the CBD of Harare as a centre so the further out the area is the more they charge. Similarly the heavier the package is the more they charge. They have a very detailed pricing table that you can view on their website to understand what it would mean for you.
Insurance
Another matter that Fast-D pride itself on is being insured. So with them, your packages are safe. As you know insurance is all about terms and conditions so you should take time to read their full terms and conditions to understand just how much can be insured and circumstances where the insurance may not apply. That said, these are the sort of things that bring confidence to a logistics provider.
The business is young, having started operating in October 2021. The challenges that they have faced mainly come from starting and growing a business in the midst of a global pandemic. Zimbabweans turning to eCommerce is certainly a boost for them. However, the flip side is the ever-changing restrictions and lockdown rules that have characterised the best part of the last 2 years.
The food delivery business works much the same but with a flat delivery fee for the customer. They continue to onboard businesses to their platform to provide customers with a wide selection of food delivered with the Fast D promise. They currently have over 10 businesses onboarded.
Fast D also offers cash on delivery which is exactly what it sounds like. For businesses selling they can send the Fast-D team with an instruction to collect cash from the recipient. Fast-D will then get the cashback to the seller. Offers like this help to build a little more trust in people in eCommerce and delivery services.
There’s a lot to look forward to for Fast D as more factors line up for the take-off of eCommerce in Zimbabwe they are well placed to benefit from the rising. The key to this will be growing their footprint to reach beyond Harare. You can look up Fast Delivery on their website, Facebook and Twitter platforms.
