GoPuff

goPuff
Type of site
 Private
Founded 2013
Headquarters Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Area served Select U.S. cities: Ames, Athens, Atlanta, Austin, Bethlehem, Blacksburg, Bloomington, Boston, Charlottesville, Chicago, Champaign, Cleveland, College Park, Columbus, Dayton, Denver, Evanston, Flagstaff, Fort Collins, Hartford, Iowa City, Lafayette, Madison, Morgantown, Newark, Norfolk, Saint Paul, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Richmond, Seattle, State College, Syracuse, Tempe, Towson, Tucson, Washington D.C., Watertown
Founder(s) Yakir Gola, Rafael Ilishayev
Industry Retail
Services Online platform for convenience delivery
Website www.gopuff.com
Native client(s) on iOS, Android

goPuff is an on-demand convenience delivery service[1][2] operating in 41 US locations as of 2018.[3] Users can order items online or via the goPuff app and get the items delivered.[4]

goPuff primarily delivers goods typically found in convenience stores such as snacks, drinks, household items, toiletries and other everyday essentials.[5] Beer, wine and spirits is available for delivery in select markets. The company also delivers over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and sexual health items such as condoms and Plan B pills.[6]

History

goPuff is headquartered in Philadelphia and was founded in 2013 by two Drexel University students, Yakir Gola and Rafael Ilishayev. Both were listed on Forbes 2017 30 Under 30 for Retail and Ecommerce[7] and later in the year, were together named Target Magazine's Target Marketer of the Year.[8] The company was originally an on-demand hookah delivery service but quickly expanded to delivering food and goods typically sold in convenience stores.[9]

In December 2015, GoPuff launched a beer delivery service called goBeer.[10]

In May 2016, they launched an alcohol delivery service called goBooze.[11]

In June 2016, the company raised $8.25 million led by Anthos Capital to fund expansion into new markets.

Privacy concerns

In 2018, researchers from Northeastern University found that the GoPuff mobile app covertly records user interactions that involved personal information, and was transmitting the resulting video to a website affiliated with analytics company Appsee.[12] GoPuff's session replay technology was called "most troubling" by the Northeastern team.[13]

In reaction, GoPuff amended its privacy policy to disclose possible data transfer to Appsee, and stated that it would remove Appsee code from future versions of its iOS and Android apps.[12] Appsee criticized GoPuff for apparently having "misused" Appsee’s technology and violating its terms of service which "forbid customers from tracking any personal data with Appsee.”[12]

Description

goPuff differs from most on-demand delivery apps in that it owns local warehouses in the cities it services as opposed to acting as a platform for other businesses. goPuff does not use any third party courier systems or middlemen to deliver. [14] [3]

goPuff's mascot is a Pufferfish named Puff.[15]

References

  1. ↑ NBC.
  2. ↑ Entrepreneur.
  3. 1 2 Philly Mag.
  4. ↑ WSJ.
  5. ↑ CNBC.
  6. ↑ Cosmopolitan.
  7. ↑ "30 Under 30 2017: Retail & Ecommerce". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  8. ↑ Fletcher, Heather. "GoPuff's Brand Magic - Target Marketing". Target Marketing. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  9. ↑ Boston Magazine.
  10. ↑ Philly Business Journal.
  11. ↑ xConomy.
  12. 1 2 3 Hill, Kashmir (2017-07-03). "No, Your Phone Isn't Secretly Recording You". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  13. ↑ Weiss, Elizabeth. "Your smartphone is spying on you, but not how you think", USA Today (July 6, 2018), p. 3B.
  14. ↑ Paste.
  15. ↑ tech Cocktail.

Bibliography

  • Weindling, Jacob (2017), Competition Runs Rampant in the On-Demand Economy, Paste Magazine
  • Zakrewski, Cat (2016), GoPuff Raises $5M to Back Delivery of Smokes, Snacks and More, Wall Street Journal
  • Smother, Hannah (2017), This Online Service Is Basically Uber But For Plan B and Condoms, Cosmoplitan
  • Goss, Scott (2017), goPuff, the Uber of munchies, rolls into Newark, Delaware Online
  • O'Connor, Clare (2017), Forbes 30 Under 30: Retail and Ecommerce, Forbes
  • Zapkin, Nina (2016), This Fast-Growing Startup Wants to Make Visiting the Convenience Store Obsolete, Entrepreneur
  • Wisenberg Brin, Dinah (2016), Delivery start-up goPuff fills overnight needs — and whims, CNBC
  • Donaldson, Susan (2017), Late-Night Cravings Inspired goPuff, a Business That’s Raised Over $8M, NBC News
  • Burnley, Malcolm (2017), Can You Really Make a Billion Dollars Delivering Beer, Condoms, Rolling Papers and Nerds Ropes?, Philadelphia Magazine
  • Hilario, Kenneth (2016), Local beer delivery company eyes expansion in 2016, Philadelphia Business Journal
  • Shah, Angela (2016), Philadelphia’s goBooze Starts Beer, Wine Delivery in Austin, Xconomy
  • MacDonald, Tom (2017), GoPuff debuts new 30,000 SF Philadelphia headquarters, Philadelphia Business Journal
  • Volkman, Elliot (2017), 9 Startup Mascots Building Stronger Brands, Tech Cocktail
  • How Delivery Service goPuff Recreates the Impulse-Buy Experience Online, eMarketer, 2017
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