The Situation
When The Home Depot announced its billion-dollar plan to reimagine its supply chain in 2018, it launched a “One Supply Chain” vision to streamline logistics, increase product velocity and reach the majority of its customers in two days or less. They started testing last-mile delivery in proof-of-concept trials with several leading delivery platforms. The objective was to test emerging delivery models to improve convenience and speed-to-market – key drivers of loyalty for DIY consumers – with the goal of shrinking delivery times from warehouses and stores to customer’s doors.
Ultimately, Roadie emerged on top, thanks to our exceptional on-time delivery performance and proven ability to enable scalable crowdsourced delivery, not just in tier one markets, but in secondary cities and rural towns in between. Just a year after the pilot launched, the world’s largest home improvement retailer expanded same-day home improvement delivery with Roadie, reaching more than 300 cities by the end of 2018.
The Home Depot is committed to building the fastest, most efficient supply chain in home improvement and our customers have made it clear that same-day or next-day deliveries to their homes and job sites is a critical part of that. We’re investing to bring this level of service to 90 percent of the US population, and Roadie is a key partner for us in making this a reality.
Mark Holifield, EVP – The Home Depot Supply Chain
As a clear indicator of exactly how strategic the partnership had become, in February 2019 The Home Depot took an equity stake in Roadie, joining Roadie’s fully-subscribed Series C funding round. The path to a growing, longer-term business engagement was set.