Modern Merchant Podcast [EP 23]: Evolution of Retail Fulfillment w/ Chypp’s Jack Hendrix

Below, you will find a transcript of the episode.

Jamie McCarthy:

Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Modern Merchant Podcast. I’m Jamie McCarthy. I’m the head of strategic accounts for Flxpoint, and also the host of this podcast. And today we have Jack Hendrix on with Chypp. Hey Jack.

Jack Hendrix:

Hey, how’s it going, Jamie?

Jamie McCarthy:

It’s going well. I was just telling you a minute ago, I’m super-excited to have you on. I think I met you probably about six months ago, when Chypp was originally CBus Shops.

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah. You got it.

Jamie McCarthy:

You guys were originally looking for, or you were in the process of fundraising. And now fast-forward six months later, you totally rebranded. I think you guys have secured funding. Sounds like things are going pretty well, right?

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah. Things are great. We’re still continuing to grow, still building new concepts and new ideas. Starting to grow the team, actually, which is really exciting for us. Starting to put some people in areas that we really needed. So things are definitely moving in the right direction for us. And it’s just a really exciting time to not only be part of the industry, but be in the startup world. I think it’s a great time to be doing something like this.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And so that’s definitely, what we want to focus on today is really the industry in general, that you guys are specializing in. It’s a little bit of a newer concept. Buy online, pickup in store, but you guys are almost taking it a step further with the delivery piece. That’s really where Chypp offers that service. So can you just give us just a quick rundown of what exactly is Chypp, what service do you guys offer, and just let us know.

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah. So Chypp is a full-service ecommerce and same-day logistics solution for both retailers and shopping malls. So we really focus on powering same-day-logistics. In the industry, we just don’t believe that there are great solutions out there right now. And so we identified some problems that we wanted to go solve. And we do this by offering a few different solutions. So we have the Chypp marketplace. So that’s branded as Chypp Shop, which is really our premier product. And so what we do is, we’re basically ingesting local inventory feeds from retailers at shopping malls and putting the mall online.

Jack Hendrix:

It’s crazy to think that the shopping mall is the last physical shopping experience that exists, that doesn’t have an ecommerce presence. Right? You can do movies. We have Netflix, you can go out to dinner. We have DoorDash and Uber Eats, obviously. But the mall really doesn’t have that ecommerce presence. And so we wanted to change that, alongside offering a same-day delivery solution. We really believe that the shopping mall is the best distribution center, literally in the world, for a lot of different reasons. And we’ve been able to optimize our logistics model to offer not only really high-quality, same-day delivery, but same-day delivery at a really affordable rate for both retailers and customers as well.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah. I love that. You guys are really almost blurring the lines now, though, right. Between ecommerce and that traditional retail model. And sounds like you’re focusing mostly on, or solely on malls in general. Jack Hendrix:Is that our core focus?

Yeah. That’s the core focus. So I’ll be honest. So I remember the day that I had the idea for the company, I was actually working in a retail location. I was working at a Lululemon, doing omnichannel operations at the store level there. And we at Lululemon really prided ourselves on having the best guest experience in all of retail. And I’ll never forget, I was filling one of those BOPIS orders, a buy online, pickup in store order. And I put it at the front of the store. And right as I was getting up at the front of the store, the customer showed up, and they took it and they said, “Hey, that’s my order.” And I watched them walk out of the mall. I made it a point to say, “Hey, okay, I want to learn now. What else are they doing here?”

Jack Hendrix:

And they literally just showed up at the shopping mall to pick up an order. And in my mind, right there, that was not the best guest experience that we could offer. If we have the product, if we’re within driving distance, why are we making the customer drive to us? And that was the light bulb moment, I guess, is when I realized, “Hey, we can do something about this.” I went home. I was still in college at the time. And I was living at home, trying to save some money. I went up to my mom and I said, “Mom, I am going to start a company. And we’re going to do same-day delivery from every retailer in Columbus.” And she looked at me and she said, “Jack, you are an idiot. That’s not going to work. That is way too hard.” And being a young kid and just upset.

Jack Hendrix:

I was like, “Mom, stop. You’re out of your mind.” Right. And then I thought about it for 15 minutes and I thought, “Yeah, that’s really difficult.” This kind of same-day logistics model is really, really hard. So I tabled the idea for a couple of months. And as cliche as it sounds, I was in a shower one day and the glass door fogged up. And that’s when I sketched out the logistics model that we use, which is called hub-to-house logistics. And by using the shopping mall as our distribution center, we found out that we could deliver from 150-200 name-brand retailers, all from one central location. Which cut down on cost and even allowed us to create a more high-quality service for everybody involved.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah. That’s amazing. And that was really going to be one of my questions as far as scalability is concerned, right? Because you are local right now, obviously in the Columbus area. And when you’re talking about working with so many different retail partners, talking about delivering within, even, I think you said 200 miles, you said one-

Jack Hendrix:

So we actually go to 20 miles, but 20 miles per shopping mall really gets us to millions upon millions of people. That’s actually one thing that we, part of hub-to-house logistics is using this hub as the distribution center. And we define you, what do we see as this good hub? Right? And one of the characteristics is built in a population-dense area. And when we started building shopping malls, we wanted people to drive to them. So we put them in population-dense areas. You see cities that have been built around shopping malls specifically. And so that was a big unlock for us was when we realized, oh man, we’re not really limiting ourselves by just delivering from shopping malls, because we still can get to millions upon millions of people.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah. No, that’s amazing. So the foundation’s already laid out for you. It’s really more so now just employing a strategy of, okay, how are we going to do this? The actual logistics of it. How are we going to get this done?

Jack Hendrix:

Right. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So and when you talk about scalability too, that’s something that we really pride ourselves on. We believe that we are the most scalable solution in the same-day industry right now. One thing that I like to say is if the solution is not scalable, then it’s not a solution at all, right. If it’s not a scalable solution, then it’s not a solution at all. And that’s something that we want to make sure that we’re focused on. So when we talk about our logistics model, 15 Chypp ambassadors, so, and we call our drivers ambassadors here, because we really want them to be ambassadors.

Jack Hendrix:

Not only of our brands, but more so of the brands that we’re delivering products for. 15 Chypp ambassadors can really do the work of 450 Uber drivers or DoorDash drivers. So that allows us to scale a lot more easily, right? The gas prices don’t impact us nearly as much as it might for a different model. And that’s why we don’t have a gas charge. We don’t have a service charge. Our drivers don’t accept that. We don’t add all of these different service fees. Because quite frankly, our cost model doesn’t force us to.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah, that’s incredible. Especially right now. I know that’s in the forefront of everyone’s minds right now. Gas prices and just rising costs everywhere. As far as, this seems to be a pretty new category altogether, right. Maybe outside of Shipt or Uber Eats or DoorDash, who would you say, Jack, are your competitors in this space?

Jack Hendrix:

When it comes to competition, obviously everybody’s really attacking this problem in different ways. When we talk about competition, that’s really where we see different companies start to pop up. Obviously, the big players, right. Obviously the Ubers and the DoorDashes of the world are certainly trying to get into the space. But like you mentioned, with gas prices, when a retailer doesn’t know how much it’s going to cost them to deliver a product in three months, that’s a scary agreement to be a part of. That’s a scary thing to get into. So when we talk about blending everything together, and when I said earlier, we’re a full-service solution. We really pride ourselves on being a full-service solution. We don’t just want to offer technology. We don’t just want to offer the delivery service.

Jack Hendrix:

We don’t just want to offer pick and pack. We want to make sure that we’re doing everything for the retailers, and everything for the malls as well. There’s certainly technology partners out there that are starting to build some sort of marketplaces for shopping malls, which is really cool. We want to make sure that we’re really focused on quality and representation of the brands when we build our marketplaces. Coming from retail, I know how important branding is. I know how important small things like color swatches and product descriptions on websites. So those are small things that don’t seem like a big deal, but it’s really something that you can’t mess up. And it’s something that we really pride ourselves on being really good at.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah, no, that’s amazing. When you talk to about, Jack, not only the customer relationships, but really more like the retailer relationships, your relationships with these malls, how are you guys navigating that? What does that conversation look like when you approach a retailer or a mall and say, “Hey, we want to offer the service to you.”

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah. So we have some awesome partners already here in Columbus. So we launched at Polaris Fashion Place here in Columbus, which is operated by Washington Prime Group, which is a major mall operator here in the United States. And then shortly after launch at Polaris Fashion Place, we launched at Easton Town Center. Easton Town Center, after we were named the official delivery service there, they were actually named the number one retail center experience in America. So a really strong partnership there, we’re the official delivery service and the number one retail center experience in America. I told my parents that, and they thought it was really cool.

Jamie McCarthy:

That’s amazing.

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah. So some pretty cool partners already in Columbus. What’s awesome for the malls, right, is they’re able to increase the value of their property. So that was actually the initial conversations that we started to have were actually with leasing agencies.

Jamie McCarthy:

Really? Okay.

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah. Because they started to understand, hey, we can start to use our properties in really creative ways. I argue that over the past two and a half years, shopping malls and honestly, the retail industry as a whole has gone through this healthy wildfire of sorts. Which has left us with this forest bed that is ready for growth and innovation, and new things to really be awesome. And I think that this industry is on the precipice of doing something great. And that’s what’s awesome about having the partners in Columbus that we do have already, is they see that vision as well. They see the tomorrow of retail. They see that it’s coming, and they see that we’re really pioneering when it comes to building different stuff in the industry.

Jack Hendrix:

And so that’s how those conversations start. When we talk with retailers, we’ve got a lot of different ways that we can partner with retailers. We can become an option on your checkout page if you’d like. If you want to be a part of our marketplace, you’re more than welcome to do that as well. We also have some different ancillary products that we offer. We offer a cross-property ordering system that basically says, hey, if you have two locations that are near each other, so in Columbus, right. Polaris and Easton, right. If you have a location at Polaris and your customer is looking for the blue pair of pants, but the Polaris location doesn’t have them. In the past, that store associate would have to say, “Okay, well, we can ship it to you. It’s going to take five to seven business days.”

Jack Hendrix:

It’s like, “Ah, yeah. Okay, fine.” But what we realized is a lot of times, the Easton location would actually have that product in stock. And so we launched Chypp Cross, which basically said, hey, instead of telling that customer that it’s going to take five to seven business days, you can say, “Hey, we don’t have those pants in stock right now, but what if I could have them to your house by the end of the day today?” That became a really awesome in-store experience for some customers that a couple retailers have started to play with. And it’s just awesome that we can really start to be creative with how we’re influencing every single possible customer interaction that a retailer is having. We’re really just trying to improve the experience overall.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah. That’s incredible. Because five to seven business days, I feel like now in the fulfillment world, is a lifetime, right? You don’t want to wait for a whole week to get your stuff.

Jack Hendrix:

It’s a lifetime, and it’s still really expensive. That’s one thing that we can’t forget, right. Is at the end of the day, it might be free shipping, but somebody’s paying for it. Right? So, and those costs, it’s difficult to drive those costs down. At the end of the day, the time that it takes to get one product from one place to another, there’s not too much we can do about that. And so what we have to do is be creative with the model. As opposed to being creative with the operations of it, we have to be creative with the model. And that’s how we can start to drive costs down and hopefully help out in different areas.

Jamie McCarthy:

Sure. Yeah. Yeah. That’s incredible. I love that. And I like the fact that you guys can really partner with the retailers, really have those conversations. I think that’s super-important, versus it just being that, I don’t know, just that experience where you do. You just go online, you check out, you walk up to the counter at a Lululemon or whatever. You grab your stuff. And there’s no interaction. There’s no actual, I mean, I’m sure to an extent there’s a level of service, but I feel like what you guys are doing is just really elevating that experience. And I think that’s incredible.

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah. We never want to get away from the fact that at the end of the day, the customer is buying the product. At the end of the day, we are really just delivering the product, and we just don’t want to mess it up. We want to offer the best experience possible, right? That way the customer can enjoy the product. But how often do you order something online, the delivery is terrible. Now your entire experience is awful.

Jack Hendrix:

Customer expectation is perfection on the delivery side of things. And that’s why we use fewer drivers for more deliveries, because we can train them really well. Right. We understand that jeans ship differently than pizzas. We understand that there’s a lot of different details that really have to be focused on when it comes to that service level. And it’s something that we really pride ourselves on. And it’s something that we’re going to continue to pride ourselves on for the rest of the existence of the company.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah. As far as, and I don’t know if you know those answers. So not to put you on the spot, but I’m just curious to know, I’m sure there’s a statistic out there somewhere as far as the number of sales lost if a retail store doesn’t have something available and can’t provide it within a short window of time or something along those lines. Do you guys, have you talked to the retailers about that?

Jack Hendrix:

Well, so each retailer is going to be a little bit different, right? Each different product offering that in that’s kind of sub industry is going to be a little bit different. What I will say, though, is that 25% of retail shoppers will abandon a cart if same-day delivery is not available.

Jamie McCarthy:

Wow.

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah. So if you’re doing 4 billion in sales, we’re looking at maybe a billion-dollar hit if we’re not offering same-day delivery, which is massive. Right. And that number and that statistically, it’s actually dated. That’s about two and a half years old. So we would actually have expected that number to rise since then. And certainly, again, that’s going to be an average of all of the sub-industries within the retail industry. But if same-day delivery isn’t available, the customer is starting to pay attention.

Jack Hendrix:

And we’re starting to see the same thing happen in the retail industry that we saw happen in the restaurant industry. Two and a half, three years ago, you and I both wanted our favorite pizza place in our local hometowns to be able to deliver to us. We really, really wanted it, but we didn’t necessarily need it. And so the restaurant operator said, “Okay, great. We’ll partner with the delivery service. That way we can at least offer it. And the customer can be happy.” Fast-forward two years, and that burning want and desire is now an absolute need. And so we had a power shift there. In the past those delivery service had been built for the restaurant, right? They’d said, “Hey, Mr. Restaurant Operator, what can I do for you?” Well, now it’s actually different.

Jack Hendrix:

Now the restaurants have to appease the delivery services. And that’s a really dangerous spot for the industry. That means that small mom and pop restaurants, they don’t have as much power as they did in the past. And that’s a scary thing for the retail industry. Because I think we’re in the same spot right now. Customers really, really, really, really want retailers to be able to deliver to them on the same day. I would argue it might even be in the next six months to a year and a half. I think we go by holiday cycles, that it might not be this holiday. I would argue that we’re going to see a big bump this holiday, but certainly by next holiday, that burning want and desire is going to become a need in the retail industry. And what we’re really focused on and what we’re really driving towards is creating that scalable, affordable solution so that the retail industry doesn’t get in the same position as the smaller restaurants and as restaurants as a whole.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah. And these restaurants, I know you’d mentioned, and I’ve read a few articles before where they are. They’re at the mercy amount of these delivery companies, right. Then they’re relying on a certain percentage of their sales to come directly from that. So yeah, it can be scary, but it sounds like you guys are really well-positioned right now to continue to grow and scale like you’d mentioned.

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah. Well, one and one final point on that. When you get into that power shift, right? You don’t have to focus. Innovation is no longer forced. When that service has all the power, they can offer what they offer. They’re not really forced to go do the next great thing. We are always going to be here for the retailer. We’re always going to be here for the mall. And we’re certainly always going to be here for the customer. Which is going to force our team day in, on a daily basis to continue to innovate. And it’s something that’s has to be focused on. Because if it’s not, then we end up in a position where we’re just offering same-day delivery. When it all reality, it’s not even a good solution, because it costs 30 bucks and the service is terrible.

Jamie McCarthy:

Right. Yeah. So innovation’s key. It’s got to be something, obviously, that’s in demand. And formulating that and coming to that conclusion, what do you think, like in addition to that, what’s been the most, I guess, challenging part of launching a service-based company post-COVID? We’re moving into maybe a little bit more of a questionable economy than we’ve been used to in the last few years. So if you had to maybe pinpoint it, something that was just really difficult to overcome, is there any one thing that you can pinpoint there?

Jack Hendrix:

I would say there’s something on the company side of things, and then something on the personal side of things, just being a founder and a CEO. On the company side of things, right. Retailers are really busy. Right? They are still in this recovery period. And they’re still recovering from a pandemic that was brutal for the industry. And so that kind of recovery period is still a focus for a lot of partners that we work with and a lot of partners that we talk to. And as we continue to push and say, “Hey, you know what, we want to make this a bigger focus. We want to add on a different product line. We want to offer a different solution.” We need to make sure that we’re showing the value and showing how much we actually think this is really important for their customers long-term.

Jack Hendrix:

On the personal entrepreneur side of things, I want to scale as fast as I possibly can, but we also understand that is not a good idea. As the competitor in me wants to be at 50 cities tomorrow, but I know that if we don’t get this right in our first couple cities here in Ohio and then hopefully over into Indiana soon, we don’t want to scale something without having a really great solution. We have a great solution. We have a great process that is working really well in Columbus, but I’m not going to launch at 75 cities until we can do this thing the right way. While I do believe that this does scale across the country and possibly even across the world, we want to make sure that we do it the right way, as to not completely ruin all the progress that we’ve already made. And certainly all the progress that we want to make in the future.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah, absolutely. There’s something to be said for choosing to not build the plane in the air. Right?

Jack Hendrix:

Exactly.

Jamie McCarthy:

Take your time. And be strategic about it. Absolutely. And on that note too, so you guys are in Ohio, it sounds like you’re moving over to Indiana soon. After Indiana, what’s the next step? Do you guys have plans for expansion beyond that currently?

Jack Hendrix:

So we have some internal plans that have some different focuses. Different plans that we would go to if different things pop up. And I explained that just absolutely terribly.

Jamie McCarthy:

I’m fine.

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah. Depending on how different things shake out, we would choose different plans. I’ll be honest, though, it’s going to be really retailer-dominated. What’s so awesome about the scalability of our business is if we can really nail it in the first few cities and really build up our client base, scaling up to different shopping malls becomes fairly easy for us. Because we already have different client relationships that we would really want. We certainly obviously know that the customer is really in tune to this. The customer demand for this is there, and that it’s never going away, and it’s always just going to continue to grow. So we want to make sure that we get it right first here in the Midwest. And then certainly, we’ll be looking out that possibly go out to California and certainly into New York as well, as just the company grows.

Jack Hendrix:

But I’ll be honest. Being in Columbus, I expect us to be headquartered in Columbus forever. I think that Columbus is a great place for a retail startup to be. We have some incredible retail brands that are based here in Columbus with us, that allow us to have really great conversations and test different things, and just to learn from the people around us. And I mentioned the two amazing properties that we’re already partnered with here in Columbus. I think that both the Polaris and Easton relationships are so, so, so strong. And it really shows how we can two different properties, right. A Polaris Fashion Place, which is more of an indoor concept and an Easton Town Center, which is more of an outdoor concept. Our model fits for both. Right. And it allows us to have some amazing partners and really be on this launchpad, and get ready to go.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah. That’s amazing. And like you mentioned, I mean, malls, they’re definitely making a comeback. I know here we’ve got, or it’s called the St. Johns Town Center. Here in Jacksonville. And it was. I feel like it was quiet for a little bit, but now I’m seeing new stores pop up, new storefronts here and there.

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah. And that’s one thing too, we’re not taking foot traffic away from the shopping mall. That’s not something that we want to do whatsoever. We really believe in the mall. I think that if the mall is still standing after the past two years, I challenge somebody to give me something that will shut the shopping malls down at this point. They just went through the one of worst thing that the industry could have possibly had. And they’re still standing today, and they’re continuing to get stronger and they’re continuing to grow. And what’s so awesome is those are the strong malls that we really want to partner with. Both Polaris and Easton here in Columbus are strong, strong malls with amazing property management teams, and just incredible teams overall. And incredible retailers and incredible tenants. And so those are the malls that we really want to partner with. We think there’s about 500 to 600 in the country right now. Which means that as opposed to building 500 to 600 distribution centers across the country, we’ve already got them built. They’re already set up, ready to go.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah. That’s amazing. Got your warehouses.

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah, exactly. I don’t have to go build them. It’s a nice little advantage to have. I don’t have to go raise a trillion dollars and build distribution centers all over the place.

Jamie McCarthy:

And then as far as the BOPIS model, I mean, that obviously really lays the foundation for what you guys do. Do you think COVID fast-tracked that, because I know pre-COVID, I know retailers like Target, DSW had the click and collect-type model. I leveraged them heavily. But then I feel like more and more throughout COVID, it was almost like retailers had to implement that solution to really be able to survive. Right?

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah. So that’s a great question, especially operationally. So not only does the customer’s moved into this click and collect, or instant gratification when it comes to having their products. If we actually talk about the operation side of things for the retailers, the store associates are now trained how to do this. I would argue that three years ago, if I showed up to a retailer and said, “Hey, we’re going to do same-day delivery. When an order comes in, I need it filled in the next 90 minutes. And we’re going to pick it up right when it’s ready.” They would go, “Are you crazy? We’re not doing that. That’s a massive shift in store operations.” But over the past two years, everybody has implemented a BOPIS model. And for us, I mean, an order coming in from Chypp looks very similar to a BOPIS order.

Jack Hendrix:

So it becomes so much easier for that retailer to implement a same-day delivery solution. And quite frankly, we got a little lucky there that it caught on, and that retailers really wanted to drive this. We actually launched the company, or we started talking about the company a couple weeks before the shutdown. It wasn’t like, “Okay, we’re shut down and let’s go start this to save retail.” It certainly allowed us to accelerate the business model. And it certainly allowed us to have a little bit more time to work on it. But I will say operationally, on the retail side of things, it’s just made things a lot easier for an operations manager to understand. And for an operations manager to feel more comfortable with implementing, because their associates and their employees are already doing it on a day-to-day basis.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah. And then as far as, I guess, same-day fulfillment or just fulfillment in general, I mean, where do you see it evolving from here? Outside of same-day delivery? Are there any plans even outside of that, where you guys would like to grow?

Jack Hendrix:

There are, actually. So when we talk about the mall, right. And I talk about the mall being an awesome distribution center. I really mean that. And I think that goes for more than just same-day, right. A little pie in the sky concept that we’re toying around with right now is, what happens when there’s an empty space in the mall? Is there any way that we can bring smaller retailers in that city? Can we put their products in that location? And can we ship products out there for them and become really a distribution center operator? To really start to use the property in creative ways. When it comes to just same-day logistics and same-day delivery, one thing that I keep hearing, it’s so funny is, I have meetings with retailers all the time.

Jack Hendrix:

One thing I keep hearing on a daily basis is, “Jack, I know it’s coming. It’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming.” And I would argue that it’s here. I would argue that the demand is really here and it’s ready. But it’s something that is not going away. And it’s something that’s not going to get easier, either. It’s something that really has to be focused on, because the customer’s going to start demanding it. And if retailers can’t offer it, they’re going to find other solutions to get their products. And that’s something that, as an industry, we want to make sure that we’re fighting against. We want to make sure that we’re keeping them in the retail space, and not going off maybe to an Amazon or to a different solution to pick up their products faster.

Jack Hendrix:

I will say when we started the company, we were doing different focus groups, and talking with different customers, different potential customers. And I’ll never forget a conversation I had, it was with a girl. She was probably 25, 26 years old. So really our target market. And she said, “Jack, if I’m looking for a skirt.” And this is when two-day delivery was really the standard, “If I’m looking for a skirt and I can’t get it in two days, I will find a different skirt that I can get faster.” That was a big deal for us. That was like, okay, the customer is now making buying decisions based on shipping speeds. This is a problem that is going to continue to get bigger. And it’s a problem that we want to start solving for right now.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah. A hundred percent. And that ties back into that 25% of sales lost due to not offering a BOPIS option, or not really being able to fulfill an order in a given timeframe. And that’s scary to think about, right? And then you are, you’re losing sales to some of these big guys who do already have that infrastructure in place to handle that. Yeah, I would-

Jack Hendrix:

What you have to realize is, a customer’s never going to pay 20 bucks for same-day delivery. That’s not happening. And that’s what the standard rate is for it right now. And when we talk about our model, I mean, obviously, rates are different as different things happen, right? But our pricing model is actually competing with the UPS’s and the FedEx’s standard ground rates. So our same-day models or our same-day solutions are able to get products to the customer faster, at a more affordable rate than they would’ve, if their products were getting there in a week. And that’s starting to create a scalable solution, and starting to create something that will work for customers and retailers. And really start to make things make sense for everybody involved.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah. That’s incredible. And I mean, I will die on the hill of free shipping isn’t free, right? You and I both know that. Somebody’s paying for it. You just may not see it. You’re probably paying for it as the consumer. And so if that’s the case, if you can find a solution that you can get it quicker, you can get it at the same rate, if not less.

Jack Hendrix:

We’re already seeing the impact of, I mean, Zara over in Europe, I believe is starting to charge for online returns. It’s here. That cost is really starting to have an impact on retailers. And we have to make sure that we’re paying attention to it, because at the end of the day, UPS isn’t going to stop charging people. They need to make money too. So we need to make sure we’ve got creative solutions out there.

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah, absolutely. And just on that, I know that I’ve gone to return a few items for Amazon before in the past, and they’ve even said, “Hey, just keep it. We’ll send you a different size.” Because it is, it’s almost more expensive to make the return or the exchange than it is to just cut that loss, and accept that. So it’s interesting. I’m really excited to just keep watching where the market goes with this. And obviously, I think I harassed you a little bit when I saw that you posted a super-cryptic Instagram post a few months ago. And I was like, “What’s going on?”

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah. Yeah.

Jamie McCarthy:

So super-

Jack Hendrix:

The rebrand is the awesome, it’s really so funny how small a name change is. But it makes us a much more national player. It makes things make a little bit more sense for people involved. We also release mall pages on our marketplace. So the marketplace where customers can buy products on Chypp.com, which is really where we think the future’s going. We created specific mall pages on there as well. So Columbus specifically, both Easton and Polaris now have their own pages, which really allows Easton Town Center say, “Hey, if you want to shop Easton Town Center online, go to Chypp.com/eastontowncenter. And you’re ready to rock and roll.”

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah, that’s amazing. I saw that. I was on the site yesterday, and I noticed that the pages have been added. They look awesome.

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah. Thanks.

Jamie McCarthy:

Just quick and I guess, last question here, as far as the re-branding’s concerned, what led to Chypp from CBus?

Jack Hendrix:

It’s so funny that you asked this question. Because at the end of the day, the biggest answer is honestly, the domain name was available for us. So we snatched it up. Right. That was big, but no. So Chypp really is derived from this blue-chip company, right. We want to be a company that continuously grows, and that a customer can continuously, certainly rely on it and really believe that they will always deliver the results that they say they’re going to. So that’s why the logo color’s blue or chip it is. Because we want to be a blue-chip company, and we want to be a brand that customers and retailers can really rely on for steady growth, and certainly awesome service as well.

Jamie McCarthy:

I love that. CBus was a little bit more Columbus-focused.

Jack Hendrix:

It was a little bit more Columbus. That was a little bit more, “Hey, this kid’s in college, and we’re going to see what happens.” But Chypp was like, “Okay, I think we’ve got a company here. Let’s go do something real.”

Jamie McCarthy:

Yeah. Now we’re thinking bigger. That’s awesome. Well, Jack, I mean, can you tell everybody where to find you, if you want them to? And how to find Chypp?

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah, absolutely. Find me on LinkedIn, Jack Hendrix on LinkedIn. Actually, I’m getting new headshot tomorrow. So you might see a profile picture changed. Big deal in my world. Find me on LinkedIn. You certainly can follow me on Instagram. I’m JucoJack on Instagram. I am coined with the best Instagram handle in junior college baseball history. And certainly go to Chypp.com, right? Chypp.com. Look around there. You can look at our business solutions page as well, which will have different demos. And we’d certainly love to talk with anybody involved or anybody that would be interested in speaking with us. We don’t believe in a bad connection. We think that every connection’s a great connection. Connect with me on LinkedIn. I’m happy to get talking there, and I would love to speak with anybody that would be interested.

Jamie McCarthy:

Awesome. Again, thanks so much for hopping on. Like I said, I’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on where you guys head next, and yeah. We’ll stay in touch.

Jack Hendrix:

Yeah. Sounds good.

Jamie McCarthy:

All right guys, thanks again so much for tuning in to another Modern Merchant Podcast episode. If you want to learn more about us, check us out at Flxpoint.com. That’s Flxpoint without the e .com. We’ve got our Modern Merchant blog up there. It’s full of the latest ecommerce information and news. Also, go ahead and subscribe to our YouTube channel, and follow us on socials at Flxpoint. We’ll see you again next week with another episode.