In today’s world, you can shop from wherever you are at any time you want thanks to e-commerce platforms on the market. And even though deliveries are becoming faster, they are still not instantaneous and you rarely know exactly when your pack will be delivered. There are of course some retailers giving you the ability to set a delivery time slot but honestly I’m not a fan of the idea. Is it really convenient to book three/four days in advance a two-hours slot during which you have to be at home?

The digital world is moving forward thus changing people’s expectation. Technology is democratizing shopping and distribution. We want to be able to buy anything online and get it delivered in the next hours. That’s why we are witnessing the rise of many online companies offering food delivery from restaurants who don’t provide the service. New local startups are trying to push the concept further than just food and Quiqup is one of those operating in London.

My friend Michel, project manager at Quiqup, invited me to visit their offices. I met two of the cofounders Bassel and Rami who started Quiqup with three other friends Danny, Federico and Tim. Their idea is to offer an on-the-spot delivery service for anything you want. This service is ensured by Quiqies. (Yes, it sounds exactly like “quickies” but with a totally different meaning you dirty minded person)

This is not a service for lazy people, Quiqup is about convenience. I realised that when I tested the service: I share a flat with two friends and we always have an issue with water bottles because packs are heavy to transport and you need a lot of them when you’re three. Getting the packs delivered is much easier for us but we never know whether there will be someone at home for a certain time period on a specific day. With Quiqup it was super easy: I ordered five packs of six 1.5L bottles that were in my kitchen half an hour later. Yes thirty minutes. And by the way the Quiqie was very friendly and I could track him and contact him at any time through the process.

You are definitely wondering about the cost so I did a comparison with the e-commerce platform of the supermarket (Tesco) from which the Quiqie got our bottles from: With Quiqup, for just an extra £2.75 I got my order in thirty minutes instead of having to wait three days. Totally worth it specially since we are three paying! To be fair, we could’ve got them delivered in two days but the available time slots were not fitting our work schedules.

You can find the cost breakdown for both options in the screenshots below: With Tesco, we would’ve paid the products price, the delivery charge and the minimum charge for orders under £25 which is something common with most of the delivery providers. With Quiqup, we paid the product price with a 9% service charge based on the price and a delivery charge. The difference in product price (£19 vs. £19.95) is due to the pricing variation at Tesco between their physical and online stores. Worth noting that if the Quiqie is only picking up a pre-purchased product you will not pay the service charge. Also, the delivery charge is variable but £5.50-£6 is an average.

This is just an example, but if you think about it in terms of when you need stuff quickly and can’t go to the store for a reason or another it is super convenient. It’s not only about how fast you get the products, it’s also about the fact that you know you’ll be receiving your order in the next hour or so allowing you to organise your time in function. Plus, it is super handy with big and heavy products that you need on the spot and even if you can visit the store, you can’t carry them back home unless you have a car (taking a cab will always be more expensive).

Quiqup, offers a very handy service for busy people looking for convenient solutions. If you live in London, I definitely encourage you to give it a try. For the moment, they only serve delivery addresses in Westminster and Chelsea & Kensington but they can pick up stuff from anywhere in London. They definitely plan to grow bigger with time.

The app is now available on the Apple App Store and should be coming soon to Android devices.

I’d love to hear your opinion about Quiqup, specially if you already gave it a try!