Efficient dispatching is a click away
Back in 2016, Hassan Hallas, CEO and cofounder of One Click Delivery Services (1click2deliver.com), realised that businesses in the Mena region were not fully utilising their resources efficiently.
“Basically every single vertical of any business has a different characteristic and different peak time hours, and they can’t utilise the off-peak time with the same assets. We realised this operational inefficiency and from there we started to build our business model and technology to utilise the same assets/vehicle through different verticals and different time slots,” says the CEO. One Click has built a technology
platform that allows it to connect drivers, point of sale and a call centre with businesses needing on-demand delivery. One Click’s platform powers businesses across different verticals, including food delivery, apparel, e-commerce, groceries and parcel delivery, providing them with on-demand affordable lastmile delivery whereby the hassle and inefficiency of managing a fleet of drivers is eliminated.
The entire delivery process is technology enabled, with a robust delivery management system featuring GPS locations tracking, route optimisation and automated customer notifications.
“We were able to incentivise the drivers more by providing more deliveries from different verticals and at the same time creating more efficacy and reducing the cost significantly. Our platform integrates seamlessly to any system and provides complete real-time
With progress in technology, startups are only going to become more ambitious Hassan Hallas, CEO and co-founder of One Click Delivery Services
visibility to our clients on the delivery status, as well as metrics to track delivery performance,” explains the co-founder.
Hallas claims that One Click was created to disrupt the last mile delivery space and it is all about bringing innovation and exceptional delivery services.
“By working across different verticals, we are able to effectively utilise drivers throughout the day and solve the overcapacity problems created by demand peaks,” he says.
One Click manages a rapidly growing fleet of drivers, and has to date delivered more than one million orders.
The company is quickly gaining momentum powering the on-demand economy, growing at 36 per cent month to month, and the founders are looking to expand to other cities in the GCC.
“We serve businesses across four main verticals: food delivery, e-commerce, groceries and parcel delivery/courier. Our client list includes some of the key market players in each of these verticals. We recently expanded operations in Muscat. We are also looking to expand to other cities in the Mena and South-East Asia region in 2018,” Hallas remarked.
“The e-commerce market is growing substantially in the GCC market,” observes Dr Walid Moneimne, executive chairman and co-founder of One Click. “We are enabling the last mile delivery to e-commerce market by providing an end-to-end service to the customers,” Moneimne says.
Hallas is a serial entrepreneur, who built several successful businesses in North America, Asia and Middle East, including a telecom company and data centre business, before establishing One Click in Dubai.
“The company was self-funded for the first year, before receiving an investment from Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP). We have recently raised an undisclosed amount from them and we plan to use the new capital to accelerate our growth plans, continue to build the team and further develop our proprietary technology,” Hallas says.
“We were impressed with what the One Click team has achieved in such a short period of time,” says Walid Mansour, partner and chief investment officer at MEVP.
“We believe that winning in the last-mile delivery space will require strong technology coupled with exceptional operational capabilities, that can make on-demand last-mile logistics economically viable; unlike other players in the space, One Click has a positive contribution margin,” he adds.
Hallas sees One Click becoming a logistics technology provider that can integrate and create a full fledge ecosystem for all components of delivery process — call centre, merchant driver and end customer — in next few years.
Hallas says technology is a vital and integral part of his business. It has both tangible and intangible benefits and produces the results that customers demand.
“We are now living in a world driven by technology, with progress in technology, startups are only going to become more ambitious. The goal for most of technology startups is the pursuit of technology and economy of scale — companies like Airbnb and Uber don’t offer any ‘new’ service — taxis and hotels have been around for years — the technology these companies use let them stand out,” he explains.
He says since its launch, One Click has faced many challenges “but the main obstacle to overcome was competition.
“Last-mile delivery is an ongoing logistics puzzle as many delivery companies continue to struggle with how best to manage the growing market. Many companies offer technology, but that’s not enough to win business. Our business model is very unique and that’s one of the reasons why we are succeeding in the crowded market,” he concludes.