It used to be that going to shopping malls and grocery stores was a delightful task. I could spend hours to complete what’s in my shopping list. I scrutinize, read the fine prints, though not all, but in some of the items, especially those new ones on display which catches my fancy. It’s one of those chores I look forward to.
This was before. Pandemic deprived me of the fun I used to have. The pandemic has, altogether, changed my outlook on shopping. The paranoia of acquiring the dreaded virus while in the shopping malls or grocery stores is kinda’ nerve-wracking.
I am pretty sure some of you share this same sentiment. Buying online sparked the exponential growth of the delivery service in the past 17 months. Be it either perishable, consumable such as foodstuffs, cuisines and provisions or hard items.
Move over Grab, Lalamove, GogoExpress and JTExpress, Pinaspeed is here. I chanced upon this relatively newbie on the delivery system when I was contemplating buying non-perishable goods online.
Pinaspeed is the newest online pick up player on the block. It was officially launched July 30, it’s one of our online shoppers’ delivery partner but only for hard items for now.
Just on the side, non-consumable items are actually classified into hard goods encompassing a broad range of products, including furniture, appliances, tools, electronics, jewelry, sporting goods. It represents the array of goods a retailer offers. Then, there’s soft goods that include clothing, apparel and beddings.
It’s a wholly owned subsidiary of AirSpeed International, which is into bulk delivery. A cargo handling and warehousing entity, AirSpeed is majority owned by the family of Rosemarie Rafael with strategic alliance/partnership with SM Investment, holding 40 percent.
Airspeed has been in the business for 35 years, focused more on purely B2B or business-to-business corporate logistics. Its clients for international forwarding include Haier, Fujifilm, Ricoh; diversified food and beverage conglomerate San Miguel Corp.; Hyundai, Toyota for domestic forwarding; and for customs releasing Mary Kay, Big Boss Cement, Dermalog and Essilor.
The increasing demand for delivery, which I merit pandemic for this positive development, encouraged AirSpeed to go on what I might tagged retail door-to-door delivery.
And rightly so, because for only two weeks in operations, it already has 30 sign-ups from retailers engaging PINASpeed as their delivery partner. Online shoppers have likewise opened up an account with them to ferry hard goods within the NCR plus – Metro Manila, Rizal and Cavite areas.
Actually, Pinaspeed is just one of the new products of Airspeed. It also has UnboxMe, a freight/cargo delivery for orders from America to anywhere here in the country and Speedgifts, which is designed for the retail and online seller market.
This is for now. Moving forward, however, the cargo handling firm will be expanding its reach and services. Pinaspeed is in the process of procuring refrigerated vehicles to be able to handle perishables, said Thessa Galang, Airspeed chief marketing manager. Timetable for this type of service is within the first semester of the coming year.
Before the onset of the holiday season, when more delivery services are needed, Pinaspeed plans to be operational in Cebu, Davao and Clark, in Pampanga. Expansion of its coverage areas, actually, is a bit a breeze as its mother firm, Airspeed, already has existing hubs in these regions.
The business landscape for online delivery is vast. With the threat of variants swirling, online delivery is here to stay. Additional players, like Pinaspeed, are most desired because healthy competition is always good for online buyers and retailers.
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