Specialty grocers
Mixed baskets, one plan, and no melted ice cream.
A basket with one frozen item rides on a vehicle that can keep it frozen: Porch Route takes an order’s temperature from its coldest item. Zones give each neighbourhood its own delivery days and windows, stop limits and weight capacity keep vans honest, and a load list per route checks the van before it leaves.
Free up to 150 orders a month · No credit card · Last updated
The problem
Why is delivery hard for specialty grocers?
- One order with frozen, refrigerated and dry items in it
- Delivery areas and days that differ by neighborhood
- Lots of small orders to fit into a few vehicles
- Checking the load against the orders before the van leaves
How Porch Route helps
What does Porch Route do for specialty grocers?
- An order sent without a temperature takes its coldest item’s, so the whole basket rides on a vehicle that can carry it
- Zones by radius or drawn area, each with its own delivery days and windows
- Stop limits and weight capacity on every vehicle
- A printable manifest per route with every stop and line item
- A dispatch board with every route on a timeline and a map
What it looks like on the day.
A vehicle set up to carry frozen, refrigerated and dry, and a zone that delivers on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with a morning window.
Every number in these screens is the planner’s own answer for a demo day — not a mock-up of one.
- Capacity
- 1,400 lb
- Max stops
- 14
- Shift
- 6 h
One delivery day
What does one delivery day look like?
Step 1: Orders from the store
Your store sends each paid order over the API with its items, or you import the day’s CSV. Without a temperature on the order, it takes the coldest item’s.
Step 2: Zones decide the days
Each neighbourhood is a zone with its own delivery days, window, daily limit and cutoff. Orders you add or import are labelled with their zone; the day board shows what’s planned where.
Step 3: Build across the vans
Choose the day and build. Frozen baskets go only on freezer-capable vans; stop limits and weight capacity hold; the plan shows the miles and time saved.
Step 4: Load list, then dispatch
Print the load list to check every basket against its route, then dispatch: customers get their window by text or email, drivers get their links.
Step 5: Follow the day
The dispatch board shows every route on a timeline and a map, who is running late, and stops that need attention.
Step 6: Outcomes and proof
Delivered events with photos go back to your store; a failed delivery carries the reason, and the order can be tried again on another day.
Pricing
What does Porch Route cost specialty grocers this size?
Every feature is on every plan. Plans differ only by how many orders and customer texts they include each month, and by support — never by drivers or vehicles.
| Business | Orders a month | Vehicles | Plan | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Co-op with two vans | 400 | 2 | Starter | $39/month |
| Specialty grocer | 1,500 | 4 | Route | $189/month |
| Multi-store grocer | 6,000 | 12 | Fleet | Custom |
Monthly billing; annual billing is two months free. Porch and Route include unlimited vehicles and drivers. Fleet is priced for your volume.
Questions
What specialty grocers ask us.
How does a mixed basket get the right vehicle?
An order takes its coldest item’s temperature — one frozen item makes the whole basket frozen — so it can only ride on a vehicle marked frozen-capable. Set an order’s temperature explicitly if you’d rather.
Can different neighbourhoods have different delivery days?
Yes. Each zone has its own delivery days, window, daily order limit and cutoff. Orders added by hand or CSV are labelled with their zone; API orders are never turned away for being outside one.
Can we limit a van by boxes rather than weight?
Yes. Every vehicle has a weight capacity, a box capacity (boxes, coolers or totes — whatever you load) and a maximum number of stops. Leave any at 0 for no limit.
Can customers pick a delivery slot?
Your store takes the order and its date; Porch Route plans it. Zones set which days each area is served and how many orders a day, and the zone editor shows the next delivery days it would offer.
Related pages
Plan your next delivery day in a few minutes.
Add your vehicles and a day of orders — by hand, from a CSV or over the API — and build your first routes.
Free up to 150 orders a month · No credit card