William Parker focuses on access to stand out in the competitive mobile delivery market

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

William Parker recalls seeing gutted school buses in the Hill District in the early 2000s. Those “store buses,” he said, were the best place to buy snacks and household items in communities with a dearth of grocery stores. Sometimes, they were the only place.

“Ever since then, I knew I wanted to take that and commercialize it,” said Mr. Parker, an entrepreneur from the North Side.

His startup company, VendSpin, has been offering mobile delivery service in Pittsburgh since early 2017, competing alongside a slew of others that want to bring the store to your door.

The mobile delivery trend has pushed health care behemoth CVS to rethink its strategy, rolling out free delivery for prescriptions and other items; Domino’s is testing out pizza delivery options with automaker Ford, like having a self-driving car bring the grub to your driveway; Uber is using its network of drivers to deliver food via UberEats; and even O’Hara grocer Giant Eagle will bring arugula to your door.

Mr. Parker has retained his company’s original character by focusing on access: VendSpin accepts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, otherwise known as food stamps, and has created incentives for drivers to give back to the communities where they deliver.

For small startups, finding a niche is necessary in not only the crowded food delivery space, but any competitive market.

“You look for an unserved segment ... a group of consumers that haven’t been tapped yet,” explained Jeff Inman, a professor of marketing and associate dean for research at the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business.

“You’ve got to solve a problem that a potential customer may have.”

According to Technavio, a market research firm based in London, on-demand food delivery services will continue to expand. Between 2017 and 2021, the market is expected to grow about 32 percent, representing a nearly $58 billion growth opportunity.

VendSpin has received about $50,000 in funding from angel investors, Mr. Parker said.

The company originally focused on areas like Braddock and Homewood because those residents had the least access to grocery stores, Mr. Parker said, and because existing delivery services often skipped the neighborhoods or didn’t accept food stamps.

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