College students usually make memories or ramen in their dorm rooms, but in 2021, a group of undergraduates in California used their dorm room to create a delivery service called SNAG, now growing in popularity in Gainesville.
SNAG was created by college students for college students in an effort to combat high delivery fees and long wait times. SNAG prioritizes affordability and maintaining a personal relationship with each customer.
Now, SNAG is Gainesville’s newest delivery service. Store manager, Chris Shea, believes SNAG also builds a sense of community.
In a Q&A with WUFT News reporter Elizabeth Whelehan, Shea explains his vision and hope for the future.
Q: What inspired the creation of SNAG?
A: It was created to combat long fees and wait times for delivery companies. With a lot of these major delivery companies, you’re paying five or six dollars in delivery fees. It’s also taking 30-to-40 minutes to deliver. Additionally, the customer service isn’t great. So, SNAG was created for college students by college students out of a dorm in California in 2021. Our motto is speed, efficiency and customer service. If there is an issue you’re speaking directly to a human. In fact, in Gainesville, 85% of our deliveries since opening have been delivered in 15 minutes or less. We want to cater to the people and the UF community.
Q: What college campuses is SNAG currently based in, and how did the SNAG team decide that Gainesville would be considered a target market?
A: Gainesville is our twelfth campus. We have five campuses in Ohio, two in Texas, one in Tennessee, one in Colorado, one in Arizona and one in California. We were set on having a business in Florida… especially Gainesville. We knew this was a market we wanted to break into… the weather is great, the student body is huge and diverse, football, and there is a great culture. This kind of community is everything we needed to have a great SNAG store.
Q: How did the founders decide on the name SNAG?
A: SNAG was good because it’s used as a verb a lot. Oh you need that? Snag it. It makes sense and you can use it in a sentence.
Q: Did you attend college? If so, did you see a need for a delivery service like SNAG on your own campus?
A: Yes, I went to Ohio University. I started working at SNAG my freshman year. There is definitely a need for a delivery service like SNAG. Having a quick, inexpensive delivery is definitely a need at every college campus.
Q: What makes SNAG’s delivery faster compared to your competitors like DoorDash, UberEats, etc.?
A: With those delivery services, a driver has to accept the order and then drive somewhere else to get it. We have everything in house here… we grab whatever it is you have ordered within 30 seconds and are on our scooters within one minute. We don’t have to go somewhere else to get anything which is why our delivery service is so much faster.
Q: What is the average delivery time for a SNAG delivery?
A:The average time is ten minutes or less. The most I would expect you to wait is 15 minutes.
Q: How does SNAG handle high-demand periods like the weekend or gamedays?
A: It’s all about facilitating the right way. I stay in the store directing traffic, and we have to be very well-staffed during those anticipated busy days. Most delivery drivers might have five deliveries in their bag during one trip to maximize efficiency.
Q: How do you decide which items are available through SNAG?
A: We partner with distributors across the country. Through our partnerships with these distributors, we know what kind of items will be available for us to carry in our store. We use distributors that have a wide variety of products to satisfy student needs.
Q: What has been your biggest challenge so far after opening up this Gainesville branch of SNAG?
A: I would say the hardest part is just getting the word out there. When we were opening up stores in Ohio, there were already a few stores at Ohio schools, so people already knew about SNAG. Our closest SNAG store to here is in Tennessee. So, it’s really hard to get the word out there to a campus who has no idea who we are and getting them on our app.
Q: How does SNAG keep its costs so low compared to other delivery services, and why do you think affordability is such an important value for college students?
A: Affordability is so important because students are always in class and trying to get their education. This makes it really difficult for students to consistently make money. Our costs are able to stay low because we do have everything in-house. Going to another business where they are able to mark up prices like they do with UberEats or DoorDash doesn’t happen here because we carry all of our items in the store. We don’t mark up our prices to maintain that affordability aspect.
Q: Do you partner with the student organizations or students in any capacity?
A: We only hire students. This is our main selling point — SNAG is for students by students. We are starting to partner with some sororities and fraternities with their events. We are putting up a table at a fraternity football game soon. We are going to pass out freebies, hats, energy drinks and that kind of thing.
Q: How do you think SNAG will ultimately benefit the broader Gainesville community and not just students?
A: This always happens when we open a new store… It spreads to the students first and eventually citizens of the Gainesville community also start to use our service. This definitely happened in Ohio. Over time, the areas outside of campus start to order from us too. It’s affordable and faster for everybody… not just college students.
Q: What benefits do you think SNAG will ultimately bring to Gainesville’s local economy?
A: As I mentioned, the delivery service will start to spread to not just students but to Gainesville residents as well. Everyone wants delivery now… whether it’s Amazon or food delivery, etc. If they can save some money by using SNAG, I think it will be beneficial for the whole Gainesville population.
Q: How do you think the delivery industry will evolve over the next few years?
A: We have started to see other companies use bikes and scooters with our backpack model. I think you’re going to see more and more of that here in Gainesville and other densely populated areas. The only problem with this is the weather.
Q: What advice do you have for any future entrepreneurs trying to break into an industry like this or just something new in general?
A: It’s just consistency. It’s keeping the pedal to the medal. I don’t know if that’s cliche… but it’s true. We are out marketing every day. I have to be here at least 12 hours a day, seven days a week. With a store in its infancy, we have to keep it moving and keep the culture up. For most people, it’s their first or second order right now. If their experience isn’t great and they don’t reorder from us, that is a huge loss for us. We value every customer. Being an entrepreneur in a lot of ways is better than working for someone during a nine to five. However, in a lot of ways it is way harder. Everything is on you to stay consistent and to keep it pushing.