Job Digital Lab Stories: Gerardo Catapano describes an app that activates relations
“Our delivery style is different. Digital tools must always be Integrated by a human relationship. […] Riders are key resources: the only person that comes into contact with the client who can activate a relation.”
Gerardo Catapano, founder and General Manager at Consegnam, will present his story on May 24 in Naples at the “Food 4.0: Enterprise Identity in a Digital World” event, as part of the Job Digital Lab – Training to Get Back in Action.
Here is the story, presented with the help of Nicoletta Vulpetti, who is really passionate about identity stories. And we continue to enrich the third edition of programme, conceived with ING Italia, with the stories of individuals who are the protagonists of personal and community change.
Consegnam was created by five young friends, who later become partners, to meet a challenge: bring deliveries to areas that were not served.
We started in 2018 in Nola, in the Province of Naples. Pizzas were usually delivered by the son, grandson or a relative of the pizza maker. There were no home delivery platforms like those that exist in big cities. So, we decided to develop one and the first step was to develop an app.
As the owner of a communications, web development, and e-commerce agency, it came naturally to develop a digital solution. So, in December 2018, we released the app to about 20 municipalities connected to Nola.
After developing the app, the next step was to train food services on delivery services: not only the opportunities, but also introducing individuals to the use of digital tools.
Growth has been constant. We have increased the number of towns in the area around the Vesuvius, in the Province of Naples, to then move on to Benevento, Avellino, Caserta, Salerno, and eventually all of Campania. In 2019, we moved to southern Lazio and then Basilicata (Potenza and Matera).
We decided to digitalise all of our processes: from administrative software to apps to manage orders by the central unit, our user app, the app used by riders delivering food, which also calculates the best route to take, and constant careful attention to optimise and balance work fairly.
As we trained the pizza maker to use a delivery service, we also trained the delivery staff, who often are university students at their first professional experience, or older people looking for a little extra income.
Delivering to new areas also means this. Introducing all the people involved in the service to digital tools. And we are now active in 20 cities and in over 700 municipalities. And we have no plans to stop.
Since 2022, we have started expanding with a significant media plan on radio, national TV and an outdoor campaign throughout the country. We have also added new local services to our food delivery: flowers, butchers, hardware stores, laundrettes, and electronic shops. We want to add anything that a user might need to our platform.
Our objective is to reach 85 cities and 1200 municipalities by the end of the year. And by the end of April, we will be operative in Rome, Milan, and Pescara. We like to claim that our delivery is different. Besides digital tools, we provide a human relation.
Listening to delivery boys is fundamental because riders are a key resource. They are the only person to come into contact with clients and who can activate a human relation. Something that, no matter how efficient, an app cannot do.
