Keval Raj, Co-Founder at Quicklly
Keval is a graduate of Marketing, specialized in International Business & Entrepreneurship, with strong statistical data analysis skills with the focus on Marketing Strategies.
From the beginning, their focus has been to stay ahead of others in the space by providing the most comprehensive and most customer-centric services. Today’s launch of Quicklly Pass is the latest step in Quicklly’s unrelenting pursuit of new offerings to help improve and simplify their customers’ lives,” said co-founder Keval Raj. “For the first time ever, members can experience delightful shopper rewards, exclusive coupons, and customized recommendations without giving a second thought to delivery fees.
Quicklly Pass is available in both Standard and Platinum Plans and includes a curated dashboard of deals and coupons, ranging between $50-$100 per month. While the Standard Plan provides ample benefits like discounts, coupons, and free delivery, the Platinum Plan goes a step further by helping customers unlock their most premium marketplace experience. Additional benefits of the platinum plan include no packaging fee, no minimum order, and an extra 5% Platinum discount throughout the site.
Their desire is to create a win-win for both their members and the brands and stores that sell through their marketplace. With their growing suite of customer benefits, they’re removing the traditional barriers and helping to reduce customer hesitation around trying new products or restaurants.”
Quicklly’s customers within the New York-New Jersey Metro Area, Greater Chicago, and San Francisco Bay Area and nationwide can choose from a variety of offerings — from meal kits and grocery delivery to restaurant and tiffin delivery.
As the nation’s most comprehensive, one-stop marketplace, Quicklly provides access to a range of Indian grocery ingredients, tiffins, and fully prepared restaurant meals delivered to your doorstep. Founded in 2017, Quicklly also provides a full digital presence for local businesses, connecting them to customers across Greater Chicago, New York, New Jersey, San Francisco, the Bay Area, and nationwide.
Connect with Keval on LinkedIn and follow Quicklly on Facebook and Twitter.
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studio in Chicago, Illinois. It’s time for Chicago Business Radio brought to you by Firm Space, your private sanctuary for productivity and growth. To learn more, go to Firme Space.com. Now here’s your host.
Max Kantor: [00:00:21] Hey everybody, and welcome to another episode of Chicago Business Radio. I’m your host, Max Kantor, and before we get started, I want to thank today’s sponsor. Today’s show is sponsored by Firm Space. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories that we do, and we’ve got a really cool one for you today. Today, I have the co-founder of Quicklly INC. So please welcome to the show, Keval Raj. Welcome to the show, Keval.
Keval Raj: [00:00:44] Hey, Max, thanks for having me.
Max Kantor: [00:00:46] Excited to jump right in. Talk about what you guys are doing. So tell me what is quickly,
Keval Raj: [00:00:51] So quickly is a marketplace for South Asian grocery food. So it’s just a one stop solution. And the idea of quickly happened when I was in Glasgow pursuing my masters and I faced the challenges. So ethnic grocery, when I talk about Chinese, Indian, you know, any, any community. It’s the most underserved market. And when I moved to the U.S. back in twenty eighteen, I found the same problem. And then after primary and secondary search, this problem wasn’t limited to a smaller group. It was a mass problem. And that’s where we created this marketplace, where we on board mom and pop shops like, you know, local stores. So grocery food and we serve the community. So right now we are more focused on South Asian community because one problem at a time we want to serve and based on our research, it’s a big, big community in the US, which is a nine billion dollar industry.
Max Kantor: [00:01:49] So what was the first steps you took to create quickly?
Keval Raj: [00:01:54] So first, we we do a research, right, so we did primary secondary, we interviewed people, we interviewed their store sellers, we wanted to understand the challenges. And you know, in basically in this tech era where Amazon, you know, like building those platform technology, they have all the resources but talk about like local mom and pop stores, they don’t have those resources and neither tech, neither marketing. So the first step was interviewing these people what’s their, you know, like pain points, understanding the pain points and then deciding, you know, then we started working on this model that what should be basic functionality to make it easier because these sellers are not even tech savvy. So how can we make them their life easy with the basic technology and in order to compete in this era of technology, for sure.
Max Kantor: [00:02:38] So to get people to like, join you guys is website and to to be able to sell their products on your website. Did you reach out to these people or did they come find, you
Keval Raj: [00:02:50] Know, so when we started in 2018 in Chicago, it was most like, there is no such service like that when we started. So it was, you know, when people started using it was mostly word of mouth promotion. It was all bootstrapped company. So we didn’t do campaigns like PPC. So it was all organic and that’s where we started getting traction.
Max Kantor: [00:03:10] When you first started, was it just because I know now you do like groceries and also you can order food, but did you just start with one or the other? It started where you were offering everything.
Keval Raj: [00:03:22] No, totally. We just started with groceries, and then we started studying the personas of our customers. What are their needs? And definitely, you know, like as we go along in 2020 after COVID, we became a fully digital marketplace, and that’s where we introduced food as well.
Max Kantor: [00:03:40] So it’s interesting you bring up COVID because I think this type of service quickly was probably, you know, so valuable during COVID, when people didn’t want to leave their house. So were there any challenges that you encountered when COVID started and how did it help your business grow?
Keval Raj: [00:03:57] Not only so, first of all, this was something which no one had saw coming on which one no one was prepared for. So definitely it happened overnight. Or I won’t say overnight, but definitely there were challenges. We started getting so many orders that there was a backlog. Definitely. You know, our also responsibility was to serve the community because this was one of the hardest time people cannot go out, but they need those groceries. So we hired more and more people. Definitely, we saw growth. But our main challenge was how can we make sure that these essentials are reaching out to the needy ones? And that’s where our team, like all of us, stepped in. Even I did the delivery myself that time. Even my co-founder did that. So it was all in at that time. And definitely we saw immense growth afterwards. We saw five hundred percent growth at that time in terms of order, in terms of volume, in terms of customers.
Max Kantor: [00:04:49] Wow. And how cool is it that you were out there actually doing the deliveries? That must have been quite the experience.
Keval Raj: [00:04:57] It’s just, you know, like when, when, when you have your own company, it’s just like, you know, you have to do, you have to lead by example. And if I, I’m putting my people at risk, basically because that time it was very less information. So no one knew what to expect. So we had, you know, PPE equipments for our people. But still, you have to lead by example. And when I show them that, Hey, guys, it’s OK. If you go out there in the public and serve the community, then they also feel comfortable for sure.
Max Kantor: [00:05:26] And so what is your back story? How did you get into this line of work?
Keval Raj: [00:05:31] So I moved to Glasgow to pursue my master’s. Mostly, I did international business and entrepreneurship, and that’s where during my tenure I was working with real life companies there because that’s a part of our strategy classes to solve their issues, what kind of issues they are facing and to solve. And that’s where I started getting more and more involved. And like I said that when I moved to Glasgow, I faced this problem myself. Because if you talk about Chicago or in the U.S. and cities, for example, the market is concentrated in a very different way. Like Chicago, talk about Little India, little China. It’s not going to be in downtown, it’s going to be outside and convenience is not there. Same thing in the UK, I face the same challenges. I moved to Germany after my masters to work for Delivery Hero, which is one of the biggest food delivery company in Europe and Asia. Just to know the basic know how, how it all fits in. And after working for two years, I moved to the U.S., worked for Microsoft, mostly in the marketing area, did campaigns for, you know, Fortune 500 and then in Twenty Eighteen finally decided after my research and, you know, theoretical and practical knowhow that it’s time to go all in.
Max Kantor: [00:06:40] So you guys started in Chicago, but now you’ve expanded to other cities, right?
Keval Raj: [00:06:45] That is correct. So last year we expanded it to New York, New Jersey Bay Area, and now we also have a nationwide shop. So we deliver all over the U.S.
Max Kantor: [00:06:54] That’s so awesome, and so how did you find these kind of mom and pop stores across the country,
Keval Raj: [00:07:01] So not across the country, I would say so. Basically, there’s a there are two models here. One is Same-Day delivery. So, you know, groceries and food, you get same day in Chicago, New York, New Jersey. Bay Area, where we work with local mom and pop shops. And then there is a nationwide category where we work with local entrepreneurs. So basically talk about I’ll give you an example of one community South Asian, right? So there are so many products out local entrepreneurs who have created these products like, you know, tea and coffee breads and everything. So we onboard them and we test out the product with our customers. When we get good feedback, we’re on board them and we give them a nationwide presence in that case.
Max Kantor: [00:07:41] Hmm. Gotcha. Ok. And so what are what are some things you guys need more of? How can our listeners help?
Keval Raj: [00:07:50] I think it’s more about like if I if I truly talk about quickly itself as a brand, we are really a new brand 2020. We did in September, we did a digital transformation and launched quickly as a marketplace. And it’s relatively new brand. And Indian food is something which is the common thread. Like, you know, it brings people together, definitely irrespective of your color, capitalism, community, anything. So food is always a common thread, I would say. And that’s where we are trying to serve the community, the authentic what authentic Indian food or Indian meals looks like. And that’s our motto, first of all. So I think mostly it’s Chicago born business and we are still in very learning phrases like new, we are trying to build this brand. So definitely like it will. It will put a word out that, hey, guys, there is some brand name quickly who is, you know, catering to an authenticity of Indian meals. So definitely give it a try if you want to. But you know, just on the back of your mind, there is something like this exists for sure.
Max Kantor: [00:08:53] And I think the the best part about it is there’s so many things you can get from the website. You know, you’re not just selling food or you’re not just selling grocery. There’s a ton of different items people can get from quickly.
Keval Raj: [00:09:07] That is correct. And also earlier our target market just to, you know, like add to that our target market was mostly South Asian because, you know, it’s a marketplace. So definitely if a local customer, let’s say, comes and they might not know about the ingredients or, you know, they might know about food, but not ingredients. Today, our major announcement went out that Instacart and quickly has done a partnership and now quickly storefront is also available on Instacart. So basically, we are tapping into outside South Asian customers to, like I said, that’s, you know, food. Indian food is the common thread, and that’s what we’ll be serving on Instacart platform, too.
Max Kantor: [00:09:42] So you mentioned Instacart, and so I know you guys also do delivery. Can people pick up in store as well?
Keval Raj: [00:09:50] I know we have only enabled for delivery.
Max Kantor: [00:09:52] Gotcha. Ok. And so K-Ville, I have to know for you what is the most rewarding part of being the co-founder of quickly?
Keval Raj: [00:10:02] I think the most rewarding part is like, you know, like I said that it it started. It all started with the problem trying to find the solution for that problem, which I faced with multiple, you know, hundreds of people have faced after our research and getting like appreciation from a customer that how we are trying to make a difference, why even one customer at a time that’s like more rewarding than anything. And it’s not only limited to customers, we get appreciation from our sellers like, you know, how we have not only during COVID, but after COVID. They are seeing the growth, continuous growth, like how they were only relying on walk in traffic. Now we do all the marketing with the digital presence, how they reach retail, exponentially growth. So, you know, having those kind of appreciation to, you know what, either from customers, from sellers whom we have made a difference that’s actually more rewarding
Max Kantor: [00:10:52] And cable, if people want to order from quickly or just learn more about you guys, do you have a website, some social media you want to promote?
Keval Raj: [00:11:00] Certainly. So we do have our website, which is quickly with QIC doublewide, and we do have our app quickly on Apple as well as Android. Again, our official social media channels is quickly official on Instagram, and you can also find on Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn everywhere we are.
Max Kantor: [00:11:22] That is awesome. Well, K-Ville, thank you so much for being a guest today on Chicago Business Radio.
Keval Raj: [00:11:27] Oh, thank you for having me and really appreciate you guys. You know, just hearing us about quickly and our story here.
Max Kantor: [00:11:35] Oh, it is not a problem. I mean, you guys are doing great work and we appreciate all you’re doing. So thank you for being on and thanks to you for listening to another episode of Chicago Business Radio. I’m your host, Max Kanter, and we’ll see you next time.
Intro: [00:11:50] This episode is Chicago Business Radio has been brought to you by firm SpaceX, your private sanctuary for productivity and growth. To learn more, go to Firme Space.com.
