Ordego Is the Newest Convenience Store — And It’s in Your Phone

Created+by+Daniel+Nelson%2C+Devin+Visslailli+and+Jake+Zimmerman%2C+Ordego+is+an+online+convenience+store+that+delivers+different+household+items+throughout+East+Village.

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Created by Daniel Nelson, Devin Visslailli and Jake Zimmerman, Ordego is an online convenience store that delivers different household items throughout East Village.

Rachel Sipress, Contributing Writer

With the rise of popular apps like Seamless and GrubHub, NYU students can have meals delivered to their doorsteps with just a few taps. But what if someone wants batteries, tissues or even groceries delivered in the same easy way?

Recent NYU alumni Daniel Nelson, Devin Visslailli and Jake Zimmerman — who all graduated from NYU this past May — banded together to create their own solution to this need. Ordego, an online convenience store, promises to deliver a variety of household items throughout the East Village in under 20 minutes.

WSN sat down with founders Nelson and Visslailli to learn more about the app and what they envision for its future. Our writer then tried out the service herself to see if it could deliver on its lofty goals. Find out the verdict below:

WSN: What gave you the inspiration to start Ordego?

Nelson: As New Yorkers, we’re surrounded by all these great delivery services like Seamless or delivery.com. And we thought everyone has a solution to this food issue, but what about milk? What about bread? What about these other items, like batteries, that we need? Why can’t we get those? And it itched at us, so we hashed some things out and came upon a solution to solve that problem.

WSN: How did you actually start up the website?

Visslailli: Dan and Jake actually used the NYU Listserv to find a developer. They had the idea and they were looking for someone to build it. So I saw the email, and I responded right away. Freakishly fast. And in the end, they hired me to do the whole website. So basically we spent the next few months planning out the whole process of what we wanted the site to do, because we had a few competitors that we could base the platform on but we were interacting with a different type of store.

WSN: So do you guys have an app?

Visslailli: The app is in progress. We’re actually looking to expand our development team right now.

WSN: Who are the people who are actually doing the deliveries?

Nelson: We partner with a variety of brick-and-mortar stores throughout the East Village to perform these deliveries. When you go on the site, the first thing you do is type in your address.  We automatically match you with the nearest store and bring up that store’s inventory list.

WSN: So based on where you are, you’re going to get different prices and options?

Nelson: Minimally different. We’ve universalized the process, so the options are the same store to store. But some stores do have slightly varying prices. Our partnering with these stores is what allows us to make our deliveries so fast.

WSN: How big is your audience right now? How many orders are you getting?

Nelson: Over the summer, we had our soft launch where friends placed orders and we were able to refine the system. Now, we are fully operational and ready to ramp up operations.

After speaking with the entrepreneurs, WSN tried out the service. Ordego offers a variety of goods on their website ranging from candy bars to Windex. Prices range from $0.50 to $15, and the site is well-organized and easy to use; however, a service charge of around $2.00 is added to the order. A box of Rice Krispies and a quarter gallon of milk cost $14.48 — including the service charge. While the price is somewhat expensive for cereal and milk, Ordego is as quick as promised, and the delivery arrived in just under six minutes.

Ordego is a bit pricier than stopping by the closest Duane Reade, but for students who wish to get their convenient store needs fulfilled quickly without having to leave the comfort of their own home, Ordego is the perfect solution.

Email Rachel Sipress at [email protected].