Dive Brief:
- UniUni aims to expand its delivery reach to 70% of the U.S. population by September, said Joshua Haun, the company's senior director of business development in the U.S.
- The parcel carrier currently reaches 50% of the U.S. population and covers major Canada cities like Toronto and Vancouver. The expansion will allow UniUni to deliver in more states, including Minnesota, Michigan and Idaho.
- The plan comes after the carrier closed a funding round of $30 million in November to fuel its U.S. growth, marking more than $100 million raised in total over a 12-month period.
UniUni eyes U.S. network growth
Dive Insight:
UniUni is expanding in an effort to be an end-to-end national competitor versus the likes of the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, FedEx and OnTrac, Haun said. The company wants to be a one-stop shop for its clients, delivering the majority of their volumes rather than just a small portion, he added.
"We don't want to just pick off 15, 20, 30, 40% of a customer's volume," Haun said. "We want to pick off 70, 80% of that volume and provide a cost-effective solution to really up to 80% of the U.S. by the time we're done."
Growing its coverage area is just one way UniUni aims to attract more shippers.
The parcel carrier has also launched full middle-mile connectivity across its network, helping it deliver customers' items even from far-flung origin points. The company's goal, with help from air shipping partners, is to get a delivery from any origin point to any U.S. destination UniUni covers within four days or less, Haun said.
UniUni processes over 1 million packages daily and serves over 500 cities in the U.S. and Canada. Delivering for e-commerce giants like Temu and Shein has helped the company grow. However, it has been expanding its focus to snag more volume from local U.S. brands, along with 3PLs and fulfillment providers, according to Haun.
Haun said shippers interested in UniUni are often looking to secure lower prices for their lightweight packages, a shipment type that is seeing rate pressure from major carriers.
A measured approach to expansion and efficiency gains from robotic sortation equipment allow the company to offer aggressive pricing for sub-pound packages, according to Haun. In exchange, UniUni gets an influx of volume that makes its delivery routes more productive.
"I think these lower rates, just driven by the fact that we're such an efficient carrier and we're very technology-oriented, are here to stay," Haun said.
