Blain’s Farm & Fleet, a specialty retailer with 45 locations throughout the Midwest, partnered with Roadie, a UPS company, to offer same-day delivery to its customer “neighbors” for everything from lawn tractors to tools, clothing, snacks, and sporting goods.
want to add SKUs we may not service,” says Moon. “Because Blain’s may have bigger items they want to start adding into the same-day network, we’ll ask if we need to get additional capabilities for our drivers—such as trailers or other equipment. We talk regularly to continually build onto the partnership and add more opportunities for both parties to succeed.” Currently, Roadie doesn’t handle delivery of the larger agricultural equipment that Blain’s Farm and Fleet sells, but everything is up for discussion. “We continuously evaluate performance and consumer sentiment to understand how we can best evolve the same-day delivery service for our neighbors,” says Ollinger. EXCLUSIVE SERVICE Blain’s Farm & Fleet relies on other providers to handle next-day and multiple- day shipping, but Roadie is its exclusive final-mile provider for same day delivery. “Same-day delivery drives incremental business for us because consumers like the immediacy and the fact they can receive their goods within the day,” Ollinger notes. “Roadie has increased our sales,” she concludes. “It has helped us better serve our neighbors because we’re able to deliver the products they want, when and how they want them.” n
to have it delivered to them the same day via Roadie,” says Ollinger. “From our perspective, it solves a problem for our neighbors.” Roadie typically doesn’t interface with a customer’s warehouse management system (WMS). “There’s no need,” explains Moon. “In ship-from-store situations such as Blain’s, they know if they have an item on hand.” Meanwhile, the platform’s application program interface (API) is easy to integrate and can tie directly into potential customers’ systems. “When somebody places an online order, and lives within range of a store, same day-delivery as part of the order process is always an option,” says Moon. What varies is how retailers provide awareness to their end customers about same-day delivery and whether or not there’ll be a charge. Roadie leaves that kind of decision-making up to the retailer. Roadie also strives to accommodate the ebbs and flows of businesses such as Blain’s. Spring generally sees an uptick in orders for lawn and garden supplies, for example, and then there is the retailer’s annual toy extravaganza, which jumpstarted the partnership in the first place. During regularly scheduled conversations, the partners discuss potential improvements. “We’ll ask if they
“We deliver in places where the population is maybe 1,000 people,” says Moon. “There’s a high likelihood it truly is your neighbor who has jumped onto the platform to perform the delivery. The benefit is they understand how farms work, and where things need to go.” BEING NEIGHBORLY Such ready familiarity resonates with a business like Blain’s Farm & Fleet, which dates its origins to a time when two brothers, Claude and Bert Bain, simply wanted to do right by their neighbors. “The business grew because we started carrying everything for our neighbors,” says Ollinger. “Our assortment evolved because we wanted to provide anything and everything anyone would need. We’re just here to serve our communities.” The company has received compliments from neighbors who commend Roadie drivers for taking the time to learn, or who just seem to know intuitively, where to place goods that they’ve ordered. “We’ve been pleased with the Roadie service level,” Ollinger confirms. Third-party delivery works well for many items in Blain’s inventory. Cumbersome items such as large bags of mulch, livestock feed, and pet food fall into that category. “If an item is too heavy or too bulky for a typical passenger vehicle, we see more frequently that our neighbors like
May 2025 • Inbound Logistics 61
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