Last December, Postmates launched with the plan to offer up a courier delivery service for local businesses throughout San Francisco. But then the team had a brilliant idea: What if it gave its couriers pre-paid debit cards, which would let them purchase goods for customers and then deliver them anywhere in the city?
That idea evolved into the Get It Now app, which Postmates launched in private beta in mid-April. Since then, the app has attracted more than 1,000 users in just four weeks. Not surprisingly, many of those users come from tech startups themselves, with employees of Twitter, TaskRabbit, Square, Cherry, and Yelp all signed up to use the service.
More than just acquiring beta users, however, the app has been making money. Since launch, the app has pulled in $20,000 in revenue, with the average user spending $116 per month. And it’s getting stuff to people pretty quickly, with average delivery time under 30 minutes. To achieve that, Postmates has greatly increased the number of couriers that it uses for deliveries, from 20 or 25 to 60 altogether.
Being able to show that its app makes retailers money gives Postmates some leverage as it tries to get them signed up for its local delivery services. For some top venues in San Francisco, like Little Star Pizza, Pakwaan, or Papalote, offering up a way to offer delivery services without having to actually hire delivery guys seems like a no-brainer. And for lazy customers, or those who don’t necessarily live near their favorite restaurants, being able to get an In-N-Out fix (ANIMAL STYLE!!!) without fighting tourists in Fisherman’s Wharf is a clear win.
Co-founder Bastian Lehmann told me he expects the Get It Now app to be released publicly over the next few weeks. In the meantime, if you want to test out the app for yourself, you can sign up for the closed beta at postmates.com/getitnow.