Targeting the Niche Delivery Market for High-Income Clients
Customized Delivery with Mercedes Sprinter Vans
A startup in the United States is gaining attention for generating millions of dollars in revenue with its "premium personalized delivery" service. The company offers a highly customized service that delivers items to the desired location in a short period of time, and continues to grow based on demand from wealthy clients.
Recently, The New York Times (NYT) introduced the delivery service startup 'Tote Taxi,' which completed a delivery from a famous bakery in Brooklyn, New York to a hotel in East Hampton, Long Island?a trip that took about three hours?and received $500 (690,750 KRW) for the service.
Tote Taxi provides premium personalized delivery services between New York and the Hamptons. The base fare starts at $275 (approximately 380,000 KRW), and Mercedes Sprinter vans are used as delivery vehicles. Tote Taxi founder Daniela Candela, 35, stated that this kind of premium delivery translates to annual revenues in the hundreds of millions of KRW.
Candela came up with the idea for Tote Taxi in 2017 while living in Manhattan's Lower East Side. She explained that the inconvenience she experienced traveling back and forth to visit family in Long Island was the catalyst for founding the company.
In November of the same year, Candela participated in a startup competition held in Southampton and won a prize of $15,000 (20,720,000 KRW) with her delivery service idea. She then received an additional $5,000 (6,907,500 KRW) in support from her father, who worked in landscaping, and purchased a Sprinter van, launching the business the following spring.
At that time, there were no services specializing in delivering essential items needed by the upper class in the Hamptons, such as Wellbutrin (an antidepressant), pet medications, golf putters, dresses, or keys.
There was strong demand from high-end consumers?some would even travel from New York to East Hampton just to buy a bag of apples. However, most items had to be sent via mail bus or delivered to homes by hiring a driver. Candela recognized this market gap. She said, "Some people called it genius," adding, "But really, it's just picking up and delivering things."
Tote Taxi currently operates with three full-time employees, contract drivers, and two Sprinter vans. The customer list is not disclosed for security reasons, but some well-known celebrities are reportedly among the clients. On one occasion, the company even interacted with the United States Secret Service, and the item in the back seat at that time was a piece of artwork.
Currently, Tote Taxi's core revenue comes from a $895 (1,240,000 KRW) summer temporary relocation service, known as a "mini move." According to Candela, many customers prefer this "small and flexible" service over large moving companies.
Tote Taxi is expanding its business, focusing on areas with high concentrations of wealthy residents in the United States. In 2022, the company entered Palm Beach, Florida, and recently began offering delivery to campsites. An additional service delivering snack baskets from Red Horse Market is also available for $150.
Candela is planning to expand the business further with a pet shuttle service and a Boston?Cape Cod route. Candela said, "I want to become a household name."
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