Evan Walker – How a Vintage Trunk Inspired a Billion-Dollar Company that Changed E-commerce

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Online shopping has become increasingly popular due to its flexibility. However, there is significant uncertainty for customers when it comes to the post-purchase experience, as they are often unsure whether their products will be safely delivered.Evan Walker is an innovator who has revolutionized the post-purchase experience for both business owners and customers, providing a solution to this challenge.

Evan is the founder and CEO of Route. He had the idea to build the company while traveling to Florence, Italy. He was trying to purchase an old Italian steam trunk and ship it to Los Angeles. The merchant couldn’t ship rare items overseas because of the risk of loss or damage. Inventive Evan thought of creating an Amazon-like customer experience platform for small merchants where the customers would have visibility and assurance of their delivery, as well as ensure the shipment was carbon neutral. He created the world’s first post-purchase network, Route.

Route is a unique e-commerce platform that directly connects and empowers both consumers and brands. Route has significantly changed e-commerce trading by providing a holistic approach to online shopping, recreating consumer experience from discovery to delivery through the Route app. It offers a variety of features that provide merchants with the tools necessary to enhance the post-purchase experience. Since its launch in 2018, it has built a network of millions of app users and over 15,000 merchants.

One of the areas of Route’s biggest success is their sustainability initiatives. Less than a year ago, Route launched the Green Package Protection offering, and already (in less than a year), they announced removing over 30,000 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere, planted 50,000+ trees, and had over 8.2 million consumers support these initiatives.

Route’s ultimate goal is to remove clients’ anxiety after purchasing goods. In many scenarios, online shoppers always end up with the question, “Where is my order?” To help mitigate an issue that significantly affects many businesses, Route tracks everything someone buys online in one place visually on a map. It protects the package to ensure it arrives safely, ensures carbon neutral shipments, resolves order issues in one click, and allows users to discover new brands and products based on what they buy.

Route gained recognition as one of the fastest-growing tech companies in history. In just two years, the company has grown to about 400 employees and was featured in the “Best Places to Work” lists and “Fastest Growing 50 Startups” list. Also, Route has risen to become a $1b+ company and one of the most downloaded shopping apps in the App store. Evan and Route support hundreds of small brands, artists, creators, and young entrepreneurs.

To capture the attention of their industry, they have taken a consumer approach to their business. They have endeavored to empower merchants and consumers to have a better shopping experience. Unlike most tech CEOs who like to play things safe, Evan is bold to speak his mind in an industry he feels has remained stuck and needs to be innovated.

Evan attributes his success to the brilliant people in his companies. He advises other CEOs who want to scale to ensure they hire the right people, people they can convince to join in their mission, and who will make their employer’s mission their mission. According to Evan, people, like resources, are a significant determinant of your business’s success.

In the coming years, Evan envisions Route becoming the de facto app consumers use to track online orders. Through Route, he hopes to create game-changing services and product suggestions that will forever change how the world shops online and discover new brands and products worldwide. Also, he hopes to change the lives of small business owners, purpose-driven brands, and young creators. Although Evan does not want to reveal too much, he hints at working on secret projects to enhance autonomous delivery.

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