Shyp launches address-free delivery service

Instead of shipping addresses, Shyp customers get usernames, and their addresses and delivery preferences are synced to those usernames, wired.com reports. When a contact wants to use Shyp to send them something, he or she can just type in the username, rather than a street address.

Senders don’t see exactly where the package is going to. If the recipient hasn’t used Shyp before, they’re prompted with a message to sign up for the service, the source cites. Afterwards, Shyp recipients can track the package inside Shyp’s smartphone app. In the window of time while the package is still being prepared, they can change where the package gets sent, too. Anyone, wherever they are in the world, can receive a package via Shyp.

The company has invested in machines that can take raw cardboard and create custom-sized boxes. Beyond eliminating wasteful bubble wrap and paper stuffing, smaller boxes also tend to mean cheaper shipping prices and, in each of the cities Shyp operates, the company has set up intermediary “nodes”—strategically placed vans between couriers on the move in bikes and cars. When the van is full, it makes a trip to one of Shyp’s warehouses, where the packing and shipping happens.

Shyp claims a pickup window of 20 minutes from when customers first snap a photo of the thing they want to ship. To get things where they need to go, the company employs 65 “core” workers at the moment, plus “hundreds” of couriers, satellite drivers, and warehouse technicians.