Editor’s note: As of October 2016, Zyllem has pivoted to being a software technology provider, and is currently serving enterprises across Southeast Asia.
In an earlier interview Nabil Feisal Bamadhaj, the Malaysia Country Managing Director of Zyllem proclaimed, “If you think 1 to 2-day deliveries seemed really fast, Zyllem thinks 1 or 2 hours are pretty standard.” Setting a standard whereby packages are delivered within a short period of 1 or 2 hours is something that Zyllem is actively working towards.
Borrowing its name from the botanical term ‘xylem’, a tissue that transports nutrients across a plant, Zyllem (formerly known as RocketUncle) is a Singapore-based company that’s re-engineering the point-to-point delivery model by connecting logistics partners and suppliers to businesses and the community at large. At present, they offer this service to their customers in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Customers looking to get a document or a package delivered urgently and efficiently can access the service either through their web app or the mobile app available on both the Android and iOS platforms.
Even though both the web app and the mobile apps essentially serve the same purpose, i.e., to obtain all the necessary information about the customer, the recipient, and the delivery information, the mobile app provides an extra layer of convenience for Zyllem’s loyal and frequent customers.
The Advantages Of Going Mobile
As we rely more on our mobile devices on a daily basis, mobile apps provide an avenue for users to access and interact with frequent services in a whole new way. Mobile apps that are designed well with the customer’s needs in mind often tend to streamline the entire process cycle to complete a particular task in a shorter time and with fewer taps.
Also, both the iOS and Android platforms provide software developers with numerous APIs (think of them as functional modules) that assist them in both accessing personal data and to create smooth and native experiences that are otherwise not easily present on the web. And that’s one of the underlying reasons that make mobile apps easier to navigate and use (depending on the service of course).
And Zyllem’s mobile app is no different.
“Our idea is to help small and medium businesses to manage their delivery volumes, for volumes around 100–200 deliveries per day. These kinds of merchants are on the road all the time, managing multiple customers, roles and having to stretch themselves thin. We want to give them the ability to easily fulfill their logistics requirement, have multiple accounts and manage it all through a mobile app. This means they can manage their deliveries on the go, while spending their precious time on other important work of their own. At heart, we want to let you focus on your core business,” Nabil added.
Zyllem App Review
Once you download the app on either your Android or iOS device, you can simply login through social authentication. Given the numerous web-based and mobile services that I often use, it’s incredibly difficult for to remember the various username/email and password combinations. Therefore, I prefer logging into platforms with either my Facebook or Google+ credentials.
Once you get past the authentication and the app verification phase, the app redirects you to the “My Deliveries” screen that gives you can have an overview of all your pending and past deliveries. However, if it’s your first time using the app, you’ll probably see a blank screen, and you can simply tap the plus sign on the toolbar to get started with your first delivery.
And this is where the entire process becomes quite fluid.
Zyllem broke down this entire process cycle into 7 short steps, and you start off by selecting the type of package that you’d like delivered. From then on, you fill in any necessary contact information and you can even select the date and time of the delivery. Once payment has been made either through a debit/credit card or a PayPal account, Zyllem will dispatch their riders to complete the delivery for you. Also, you could even opt to make use of their postpaid account to manage all of your payments.
Zyllem credits each postpaid account with RM612 that customers could use to make as bookings as they’d like in a month, and they’re then billed at the end of the month based on their usage. They believe that this option will enable businesses to simplify and manage their payment process.
Even though their mobile app streamlines the process, especially if you need to send one or two packages, you can’t rely on it entirely. The mobile app currently doesn’t have all of Zyllem’s desktop functionality. For example, you can’t edit your settings or say connect your profile to a Shopify store. And that’s where the web app steps in to give you the extra boost in usability.
Their web app gives power-users all the necessary functionality to integrate Zyllem into their business process. If you’re a business owner and you’d like to send out a batch request for your deliveries, you can simply upload a CSV or an excel spreadsheet with the right template and you can have the rest of it taken care of.
Also, the web app allows you to generate API keys if you’re looking to automate your use of Zyllem by either building an entirely new app or by adding functionality to your business’ existing platform.
However, one key issue that you might face when using both the web app and the mobile app together is that the web app doesn’t let you login through Facebook. So you might face a scenario where you have to either create a new account on the web all over again, or you have to reset your password to access your account.
Given that Zyllem isn’t just a platform but an entire ecosystem of logistics partners, riders, businesses and consumers, their web app, mobile apps and other related technologies, are key to its growth and overall success.
“We’re seeing online commerce move towards the social media sphere and across various chat apps. More and more we see online retailers managing and selling goods on those channels, because it provides them with flexibility and direct access to their audience. We will continue to work and innovate this space to allow them to easy integrate the delivery solution to allow them to ship their items through various platforms,” Nabil mentioned.
“The difference is that we’re not just repackaging a traditional courier service, we’re developing a new and unique approach to logistics, which is transparent and trackable, and flexible to the needs of our customers.”
How Necessary Is An App For Delivery Services?
“20% of our bookings are done on the mobile like iOS and Android. We can see a steady growth on our mobile booking from month to month. This shows anyone can get started without any setup cost, or complex systems integration. No matter what the size of your business or logistics needs, Zyllem provides a sophisticated but still user-friendly electronic solution which will help you efficiently manage all your delivery needs,” Nabil said.
As such, if you compare Zyllem to other same day delivery services such as NeonRunner, you’ll instantly notice that Zyllem does provide a better technological platform to both place and track your orders. NeonRunner to a large degree requires you to have a conversation with their team to place a specific order, which then caters to a crowd that requires such specialised service when it comes to their orders.
However, if you’d like to simply get documents or parcels delivered around the city within the same day in a simple and straightforward manner, then Zyllem is one option for you to go with.
Traditional Logistics VS End-To-End Logistics
Traditional logistics providers often make use of a spoke-hub distribution model, whereby they gather all of the packages or parcel at one central hub, they then sort them out, schedule them and they deliver the parcels or packages in batches to the right recipients, and this usually consumes more time.
However, since they’re able to gather all the packages in one hub before having them delivered, they’re able to make better use of their resources at hand, hence, they’re typically cheaper. Businesses can make use of such services to deliver products to a completely different location than where they operate, as these traditional logistics providers are more than well equipped to do so.
On the other hand, Zyllem is a point-to-point fulfillment enabler and they’re working to empower local merchants to build smarter businesses by relying on their logistics platform. Given that Zyllem focuses on point-to-point delivery, they skip the step of gathering packages in one particular area, and hence they’re able to deliver parcels in a much quicker way.
Also they make it much easier for local merchants to integrate the features of the platform into their everyday business process. Hence businesses don’t have to bother about maintaining their own runners but can outsource that to Zyllem and focus on their core business goals.
For those who have not tried Zyllem, put in the promo code ‘OPENYOURWORLD’ at the checkout page to enjoy RM9 worth of credit for you to experience Zyllem’s speed for any of your parcel delivery today. Promo code expires June 30.
