Zee.Dog from Brazil launches last-mile delivery for pets, Zee.Now

Contxto – Last-mile delivery is great. It has allowed humans to satisfy their instant cravings of burritos and pizza.

But, has anyone ever thought about animals? They crave pet food and squeaky toys, too. Fortunately for them, Zee.Dog, the Brazilian pet products startup, has thought of a solution.  

In Summary

Zee.dog, the Brazilian e-Commerce company for pet products, is launching the “Rappi” for animal products, Zee.Now. Not only will the company sell their products online but users will also be able to request and receive goods the very same day through Zee.Now. Oh, deliveries are free and available 24/7.

As of right now, the service is only available in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil. The company aims to expand to other cities by 2020.

“Buying food should not be something you need to plan or leave home for – you should be able to call through the app and it arrives when you want,” said Felipe Diz, founder and CEO of Zee.Dog, in an interview with StartSe.

The company delivers products from the most important brands including their own Zee.dog. Others include Royal Canin, Bravecto, Golden, Premier, among others.

In-Depth

Part of the solution comes from steep fees for delivery products.

“In Brazil, e-commerce freight is a last resort for people,” said Diz. “Sometimes it turns out to be more expensive than the cost of the product itself. It is no wonder that almost 70 percent of pet-made purchases are still in neighborhood pet shops.”

Zee.dog launched this new initiative with their own capital. The project arose back in 2015 without any actual implementation. Formally launched in 2017, the company has grown greatly with around 80 employees operating.

“We do not use Rappi as a comparison because pet shops and e-commerce are the places where traditional purchases of pet products are made,” said Diz. “Our goal is to capture the market share of who buys pet products, not who uses Rappi.”

Not only will Zee.Now save pet owners from sporadic hunger-sprees among pets, but a recurring subscription model. Eventually, this service will be available for home delivery. This way, pet owners won’t need to go to the grocery store. The company still hasn’t confirmed any official dates.

“Although we believe ‘on-demand’ is the evolution of the subscription, there are customers who are accustomed to thinking about it because the product comes every month at their home,” says Diz.

This is a big step for the company. It is certainly bringing Zee.dog one step closer to becoming a tech startup and not just an eCommerce brand, either.

“We have 25 developers today,” said Diz. “Three months ago, we only had five. The tendency is that this number grows more and more since we have open positions/”

Apparently, the company has an insatiable appetite for growth. This is the reason why they’re already planning their expansion across continents, especially to Asia. According to the founder, China is the largest country for eCommerce and smartphone users. Not only that but Zee.Dog already has a presence in the country, thus the expansion makes a lot of sense.

Although Zee.Dog already envisions itself as a multinational tech company, it only expects to cross the pond once it solidifies operations within its home country.

-VC