WEBVTT - Olive Founder on Lowering `Last Mile' Carbon Emissions 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:04.160 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Bloomberg 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:08.280 Quick Takes Tim Stinovich from Bloomberg Radio. For next guest 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:10.360 gets e commerce big time. He's a co founder of 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:12.480 jet dot com. It was then sold to Walmart for 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:16.560 three point three billion back in twos sixteen. Earlier this year, though, 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:20.440 Nate Fast debut a delivery service called all of that 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.640 consolidates orders from fashion label So let's find out a 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:25.239 little bit more because he's working with the likes of 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:28.080 Michael Core's, Adidas Sacks and a lot of other very 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:30.400 well known brands. Here with how it all works, how 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:32.600 It's going. Is Nate Fast, founder of Olive, on the 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:35.920 phone in New York City. Nate, how are you, Carol? 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:39.120 How are you? I'm doing okay, Uh, feeling like the 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:42.040 world's getting back to normal, which is always a good thing. Um, 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:44.800 tell me what your last year has been like, especially 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:48.160 here you are launching a company amid the midst of 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:54.800 the pandemic and a very different economic and market environment. No, absolutely, Um. 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:58.960 You know, we started all of a little over a 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:02.040 year ago, in fact, just about a year ago coming 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:07.600 up next week. And when we initially started exploring it 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:11.120 It wasn't triggered by the triggered by the pandemic. It 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:16.000 was triggered by just a broader desire to do something 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:21.960 with a social environmental impact for my next adventure. And 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:27.000 with COVID and the increase in how much people are 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:30.440 shopping online and the number of deliveries that people are experiencing, 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:35.000 I think the pain points and the obvious environmental impact 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:39.560 of just the sheer amount of deliveries that we're getting, 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:43.120 and not just in the packaging, but just the sheer 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:45.880 number of delivery trucks that are stopping at each of 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:48.440 our each of our houses, which I'll say that's probably 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:51.240 the most eye opening thing over the last year, looking 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:56.240 out my my front window and every single day seeing two, three, four, 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:59.560 sometimes more delivery trucks stop at my home. Yeah, listen, 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:02.720 I think about it when we're ordering Amazon and it's like, 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:05.080 how are you about kind of putting this all into 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:07.440 one order? And I'm like, yes, I can wait a 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:10.240 couple of days to get something. Tell me though, how 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:16.240 Olive works, Nate. Sure, So you sign up donland our 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:18.720 app or on our site at shop olive dot com. 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:23.880 It's a free service to consumers when you sign up, 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:27.840 we create for you what we call your Olive address, 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:30.720 and that's sort of your personal storage space at one 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:33.919 of our consolidation centers, which we have two of them, 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:37.000 one on the East coast, one on the one on 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:40.200 the West coast. And then when you shop with with 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:45.560 Olive at any of the hundred or so retailers that 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:49.519 we have affiliate relationships with, when you're going through the 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:53.360 checkout process, either on desktop with the help of our 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:58.440 Chrome extension or on an iPhone through our our app, 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:02.639 we help you in cert that all of address at checkout, 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:06.200 and then the retailers pickpack, and ship those orders like 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:10.400 they normally would. They shipped to our consolidation centers. We 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:13.880 hold on to them for a couple of days until 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:17.280 it's time for what we call your Olive day, which 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:18.920 is the one day, or in the case of New 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:21.400 York City, you have two days per week that all 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:27.360 of your orders come together delivered in one single, reusable, secure, 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:30.960 two way, two way shipper. And there's one thing to 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:34.679 call out there. You're very transparently at this initial outset, 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:39.360 we're not eliminating the box from the source. The retailers 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:42.440 are still picking and packing into the boxes shipping them 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:45.680 to us. But we are getting what, in the long 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:49.920 run is actually the bigger environmental impact, which is the 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:56.720 consolidation of multiple deliveries into a single delivery, which we're 0:03:56.760 --> 0:03:59.800 getting about it what we call our sort of consolidations 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:05.200 about consolidation factor in terms of delivering more to a 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:09.680 consumers store step than would have previously been delivered in 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:11.680 the in the status quo. You know, I like to 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:15.640 understand the impact, especially since you're concerned about the environment 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:19.239 sustainability that by using your service, How do we cut 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.800 down on our carbon footprint by all of the you know, 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:25.880 e commerce that we're doing and all the delivery that 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:30.200 goes along with that. Yeah, No, absolutely so. When you 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:34.400 look at the carbon footprint of the sort of post 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.159 purchase e commerce supply chain, which is the piece that 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:41.760 we're focused on, you know, the biggest chunk of that, 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:48.120 somewhere in the range comes from that sort of proverbial 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:52.640 last mile of the truck stopping at consumers homes, and 0:04:52.839 --> 0:05:00.440 the remaining half, you know, is split roughly evenly between 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:05.000 packaging and then what's called sort of the first and 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:09.080 middle mile of getting that thing from the fulfillment center 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:12.200 or store that it's coming from to the to the 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:17.679 point of the final last mile delivery. And what we're 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:24.120 tackling initially through this this concept of consolidation is that 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:27.800 largest chunk, which is the which is the last mile delivery. 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:30.080 And I know, as you pointed out, obviously those things 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:34.719 are being delivered to us, but they're being delivered in bulk. 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:39.160 So we get one delivery per day from each of 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:43.640 FedEx and UPS and other potential carriers at each of 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:48.080 our facilities with all of the all of the various orders, 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:54.480 and then when we deliver them two consumers, we're getting 0:05:55.000 --> 0:06:01.480 on average about one point to five shipment into every 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:05.440 delivery that that we make, So that would be roughly 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:12.599 a reduction on that sort of last mile for those 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:18.200 packages to that consumers home. But obviously two pieces there. 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:22.800 One it's it's apparel only for right now, and so 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:28.039 there's lots of things that you can't purchase through affiliated 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:31.880 retailers through with with Olive, and that will enable a 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:34.680 much greater impact in the in the long term as 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:38.880 we're able to service broader sets of categories. And then two, 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:43.719 as I mentioned before, we're not eliminating the packaging from 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:48.279 the source, but we're actually in the midst right now 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:52.120 of working with our our very first retailer to actually 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:58.320 integrate directly with their supply chain where we would provide 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:02.080 the packaging in their fulfillment centers so that they pick 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:05.200 and pack their orders into that from the from the source. 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:09.200 And that will be the goal over time two as 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:13.880 volume supports it with each of the retailers on the 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:17.920 platform to do that more direct integration, to eliminate the 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:20.400 packaging right so, in other words, to help them to 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:22.960 kind of be better when it comes to their environmental impact, 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:28.240 because I'm right, Is that fair? Totally? Yeah, I'm from 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:31.400 a customer experience perspective, because there's other benefits that come 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:35.440 from the olive delivery experience, especially from the consumer side 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:38.040 of things. Not only they not have to deal with 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:43.480 the hassle of managing the waste from the delivery if 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:45.960 they have any returns, they just put it straight back 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.240 in the packaging, leave it on their doorstep and we 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:52.360 pick it up. That's really interesting. Well, and you know 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:55.000 part of your value is also going to be in 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:57.080 or at least part of your attraction I guess I 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:00.320 should say, is the retailers on your site and there's 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:02.920 a bunch that are certainly you know in my wheelhouse, 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:06.480 rag and bone, there's aloe. Uh, there's a lot of them, 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:12.120 uh anthropology. So you're definitely catching my attention here. Um, 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.720 how quickly are you signing up a lot more retailers? 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:18.480 How easy is that to do? Sure? So we've we've 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:22.760 had a ton of outreach following our launch. Uh, you know, 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:24.680 around six weeks ago or so is our sort of 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:27.440 unveiling of the service to the to the public. So 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:32.240 we have a sort of backlog of of of retailers 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:38.120 that we've signed up as affiliate partners. That's probably more 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:41.160 than what's already on the site from the from the 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:45.199 retailer side of things, we make it very low effort, 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:47.560 so it's easy to come on to the come onto 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.959 the platform, but there is some configuration on our side 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:53.480 to make sure that that whole all of address things 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:57.520 that we were talking about before, that that assisted entry 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:01.320 process for for customers is working late before we turned 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:03.240 them live on the platform. What's the trick case part 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:05.160 of what you're doing? Because I think one of the 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:07.840 things that I'm thinking about is what I love about 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:11.439 e commerce, and I definitely guide myself to places that 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:14.360 are easy, that make the whole process for me easy 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:16.480 if I need to return it. I like it when 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:19.839 there's a brick and mortar that I have that flexibility. Um, 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:23.120 what is it that you think you've got to make 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:26.080 sure you're doing to really attract a lot of customers? 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:27.480 I mean, how many customers right now do you have 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:30.520 on your site? So like, I mean, we we only 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:35.800 launched six so sorry, we have several thousand folks who 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:39.840 have signed up, but daily order volume is still still 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:42.680 quite modest. As we've not we've not really been turned 0:09:42.720 --> 0:09:46.760 on on marketing yet either. Okay, fair enough. So what 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:48.360 do you think though, that you have to make sure 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:51.680 makes sense? So consumers kind of get it and it's 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:54.880 easy because you know, anything that makes it more difficult, 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:59.400 people are going to find another option. No, absolutely, Um, 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:02.000 you know are what we're focused on right now is 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:06.600 really consumers understanding what this all of address is and 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:11.040 how it enables the service because it is something that's 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:15.720 different from a traditional check out process. So we're working 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:20.599 on things to make it even easier and more transparent 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:25.160 to the customer around how the how the ALI experience works. 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:28.959 And we've gotten tons of great feedback in our first 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:32.080 month or so post launched on how to how to 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:34.800 do just that for consumers, really really cool stuff, and 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:36.760 I hope you'll come back and kind of give us 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.200 updates on how things are going. I've got to ask you, though, 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:41.800 I'd be amiss by not reaching out to you. Just 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:44.360 got about a minute or so left here. Uh, it 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:48.520 feels like e commerce, Nate just exploded over the past year. 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:52.120 What stands out for you over this these past twelve 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:53.920 months and who do you think really just hit it 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:55.559 out of the park And again, just got about a 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:58.520 minute or so a little bit less. Yeah, I mean 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:01.640 not to not to tout my former employer, but I 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:07.640 think Walmart did a phenomenal job, especially leveraging their their 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:12.920 their footprint of stores, and their fresh grocery offering with 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:18.559 the simultaneous launch of the Walmart Plus offering, which I've 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:21.320 signed up for myself as well. And I think it's 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:24.000 a great service, all right, Good to good to know, 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:26.240 Good to know. Hey, listen, do come back and let 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:28.120 us know how things are going, especially as we get 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:30.080 into the later months of the year. I love to 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:33.439 get an update. Nate Fast, founder of Olive, co founder 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:36.160 of Jet dot com which he was just talking about Walmart, 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:38.520 and of course that was sold to Walmart back in 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:39.920 two sixteen.