Enhancing Delivery Efficiency for Animeal's Shopify Pet Store

Animeal, one of Mumbai's largest pet food and pet medicine stores, delivers essential supplies to pet owners across the city from its Shopify store, and runs those deliveries on ScrollEngine. Drivers claim the orders they want in the driver app, staff pick each order from a pick list, routes are optimized, and customers get an automatic update at every step. As published by ScrollEngine, Animeal's results are a 30% Reduction in Delivery Delays and 30% Faster Order Assignment, and it has kept up with a growing number of same-day pet supply orders without increasing costs.

The short version

• Customer: Animeal, a pet food and pet medicine store in Mumbai, India, known for its wide range and reliable service.
• The problem: drivers couldn't choose their orders, customers weren't told what was happening, pick lists were written by hand, and routes weren't optimized.
• What they set up: a driver job board, pick lists in the driver app, route optimization, and automatic customer notifications on WhatsApp and other channels.
• Results, as published: 30% Reduction in Delivery Delays; 30% Faster Order Assignment.

The challenge: four things slowing every delivery

1. Drivers couldn't choose their orders

Animeal's drivers wanted to choose the orders they took. When one order was available and several drivers were free, the store needed a fast, fair way to give it to whichever driver selected it first. Without that flexibility, drivers were less efficient and less satisfied, and deliveries risked starting late.

2. Customers weren't told what was happening

Customers wanted to hear about every change in their order's status. Without timely updates they were left uncertain, which hurt a reputation Animeal had built on reliable service.

3. Pick lists were written by hand

Creating pick lists manually took time and invited mistakes, which slowed order preparation and fulfillment.

4. Routes weren't optimized

Without optimized routes, drivers lost time and burned extra fuel, so deliveries took longer and cost more.

What Animeal set up

1. Drivers claim open orders from a job board

Animeal posts open orders to the driver job board, part of ScrollEngine's routes and dispatch. Drivers see in the app which orders are available right now and claim the ones they want. Whichever driver claims an order first is assigned it, so one order goes to one driver, and free drivers pick up work without waiting for someone to assign it.

2. Pick lists built from the orders

Each order's items now appear as a pick list in the driver app, built from the order itself. Staff prepare orders from the list instead of writing one, so items are picked faster and more accurately.

3. Optimized delivery routes

Route optimization puts each driver's stops in the most efficient order, which cuts travel time and fuel. Routes are planned around delivery windows and traffic, and a route can still be edited after it starts if the day changes.

4. Automatic updates for every customer

Customers get an automatic message at each stage of the delivery: order confirmed, picked up and out for delivery, and delivered. Animeal decides which statuses send a message and on which channel, from email, SMS and WhatsApp. WhatsApp messages use templates that go through an approval flow in ScrollEngine's notification settings, like the approved "Picked up" template below.

The same clear communication works on the driver's side: drivers move between their order selections, pick lists and routes in one app, with navigation, delivery confirmation, and calling or WhatsApp to the customer.

Rollout, training and support

ScrollEngine fitted the features into Animeal's existing process with minimal disruption. Drivers and staff got hands-on training sessions and detailed guides, and ScrollEngine kept supporting the team afterwards with troubleshooting and updates based on their feedback.

Results

As published by ScrollEngine, Animeal's results are:

• 30% Reduction in Delivery Delays
• 30% Faster Order Assignment

What changed day to day:

• Faster assignment. Drivers select and manage their own deliveries, which cuts waiting and speeds up service.
• Motivated drivers. Drivers appreciate choosing their orders, which has boosted morale and job satisfaction.
• Quicker, more accurate preparation. Pick lists take time and errors out of order preparation.
• Shorter routes. Optimized routes reduce travel time and fuel use, so deliveries arrive on time at a lower operating cost.
• Reassured customers. Automatic notifications keep customers informed, and their feedback has highlighted the service's reliability.

Set up the same workflow on your store

1. Post open shipments or routes to the driver job board so drivers can claim them in the app. You can still assign any route directly.
2. In driver app settings, turn on item-level picking and the pick list.
3. Plan each day's deliveries with route optimization across your drivers.
4. Turn on customer notifications for the statuses you want to announce, choose a channel for each, and send yourself a test order: see Set up customer notifications.

What's next

Notifications do more than reassure: read how ScrollEngine upgraded Shopify delivery notifications to reduce WISMO ("where is my order?" messages). For multi-driver route planning in another market, see BestPerfume.Store's local delivery story in Singapore.

Running same-day delivery with your own drivers? Book a demo and we'll set up a job board and notifications on your own orders.

Questions, answered.

Can delivery drivers choose their own orders?

Yes. Post open shipments or routes to ScrollEngine's driver job board, and drivers claim them in the driver app. Whichever driver claims an order first is assigned it, so one order goes to one driver. You can still assign any route directly.

How do you send WhatsApp delivery updates to customers?

In ScrollEngine's notification settings, turn on the order events you want to announce, connect your WhatsApp sender through Twilio and write each message as a WhatsApp template. Once WhatsApp approves a template, customers receive it automatically at that status. Email and SMS work the same way.

Does ScrollEngine create pick lists for each order?

Yes. With item-level picking and the pick list turned on in driver app settings, each order's items are listed in the driver app and picked one by one, so staff work from a list instead of writing one. Labels and route manifests can also be printed for each route.

What results did Animeal see?

As published by ScrollEngine: a 30% Reduction in Delivery Delays and 30% Faster Order Assignment. The baseline, period and method behind these figures were not published with them.