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Photo credit: tableatny

RedMart today announced the launch of Relay. As Tech in Asia reported on Friday, the service will use Runners, shoppers who sign up to the service in a freelance capacity (much like Uber drivers).

RedMart Relay users can get Runners to pick up items from participating local retailers and deliver them quickly. It covers food, household items, apparel, electronics, and lots more. The service promises delivery within an hour from ordering. Relay is now available to residents of Singapore’s Tiong Bahru, Telok Blangah, Keppel, Sentosa, West Coast, Tanjong Pagar, and Marina Bay areas.

In a statement, RedMart co-founder and CEO Roger Egan reiterates the company’s vision for an “everything store” that he mentioned earlier this month onstage at Tech in Asia Jakarta 2015.

We aspire to become an everything store, delivering just about anything to anyone at any time. We started with groceries because it is the largest market and has the highest customer engagement. It also requires the most robust technology and logistics infrastructure due to the operational complexity of the category. By controlling the entire supply chain, from fulfilment through last mile delivery, we have been able to innovate and create a superior customer experience.

The difference between groceries and other types of goods is why RedMart has elected to use “runners” rather than ship items from its network of warehouses, Roger tells Tech in Asia. While competing services like Honestbee have used it for grocery delivery, RedMart has maintained it’s not right for the company.

“Grocery is a very different category than others with many more items per order, and much more frequent ordering,” he says. “The inefficiencies of picking and packing orders from a store and inventory management, stock out, and replenishment issues that we highlighted for the grocery category are not issues in other categories such as electronics, for example.”

RedMart is counting on the Runner delivery network to be able to fulfill different types of deliveries as needed. “For example, food delivery capacity may only be utilized fully during lunch and dinner, but that same capacity can do other marketplace deliveries or express delivery of groceries at other times,” Roger says. This flexibility and adaptability will allow the startup to make the most efficient use of its network, he adds.

This post RedMart’s 1-hour delivery service Relay launches in Singapore appeared first on Tech in Asia.

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