Apple began offering same-day delivery for a handful of its products this week – and it’s all made possible thanks to a partnership with Postmates, easily one of the hottest startups coming out of Silicon Valley, which runs a network of couriers to deliver goods locally.

Apple watch not getting better

Apple’s new same-day option is only available in the 20+ markets where Postmates delivers, and it appears as though deliveries made through the Apple Store app are limited to the San Francisco area right now. Apple watch not getting better

Assuming Apple expands this service to more markets in which Postmates operates, this could be a huge deal for the three-year-old delivery startup, which has risen $US58 million in funding thus far. Apple watch not getting better

Postmates CEO Bastian Lehmann visited Business Insider back in late March, and though we didn’t know about the company’s future deal with Apple at the time, it was clear the company was hitting its stride.

Lehmann said he tinkered with Postmates for two years and “Tried an awful lot of things” to make it approachable to customers.

It’s Postmates’ network of couriers that are responsible for the company’s success. Apple watch not getting better

“Supply is still the biggest challenge we have in some of our markets, especially smaller markets where it’s competitive to get Postmates to work in the fleet at any moment in time.”

Lehmann said Postmates tries to get all its employees to do deliveries – its fleet of ~10,000 Postmates is tiny compared to UPS and FedEx, which have over a million couriers combined. Apple watch not getting better

Lehmann says the key to Postmates’ success is to give more opportunities to couriers throughout the day, particularly between the lunch and dinner rushes.

“Since day one, Postmates’ growth was constrained by the supply side – the supply side being our fleet of couriers,” Lehmann said.

With Apple’s backing, hopefully Postmates can attract more couriers to optimise its service in current markets, and spread to new ones.

“Every customer who uses Postmates starts using it more and more throughout their lifetime, which is a really interesting trend,” Lehmann said.

Though Postmates is a bit more expensive than its same-day competitors like eBay now and Google Shopping Express, its premium pricing aligns with Apple’s branding as a luxury company. Apple watch not getting better

With Apple Store orders stimulating demand during non-peak hours, expect Postmates to become an even bigger name among the growing list of delivery services.

Watch what happens to this Apple watch when it drops facing down the cement

(Credits to Dave Smith)

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