From tomorrow, the blue-clad messengers of Wolt and the orange ones of Ten Bis, which have become part of the urban landscape in Israel, will be joined by riders in black and yellow. Sources inform "Globes" that electric-scooter sharing company Wind is expanding its services to deliveries.
The aim is to exploit the company's existing infrastructure to deliver goods from businesses to consumers. Wind has 30 employees who will also act as messengers. Large items that cannot be carried on an electric scooter will be delivered in the company's vehicles.
Like most branches of the economy, electric-scooter sharing has been hit by the coronavirus crisis. Deliveries, however - as Wind has realized - have taken off. Businesses such as wine shops, bakeries, butchers, pharmacies, and supermarkets have been signed up to Wind's new service, but not restaurants. Initially, businesses will not pay Wind a commission for the service, but only the delivery charge.
Wind undertakes to reach the customer's home within four hours. It is examining the possibility of bookings via its app. In the future, besides deliveries from businesses to subscribers, it may offer deliveries between subscribers. Like other businesses, Wind understands that the current situation obliges it to reinvent itself, and to devote itself to services that are relevant now, and will be relevant if a second wave of the coronavirus unfortunately arrives.
Wind, which has thousands of electric scooters distributed in Tel Aviv, Bat Yam, Holon, Ramat Gan, and Givatayim, will offer its delivery service in these cities. The new service will also help small businesses to expand into deliveries, which can be challenging and expensive for many of them.
What about road safety? The messengers will have to provide an outstanding example amid the urban chaos when they are branded with the company's uniform. They will have to wear helmets and ride only on marked paths and in permitted areas. On the subject of helmets, the obligation of the scooter sharing companies to provide helmets with their scooters, on which the Tel Aviv Municipality decided a long time ago, has been deferred from June 1 to mid-September, that too courtesy of the coronavirus.
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