“New Philadelphia-based food app allows you to find quickest, cheapest option” – 6abc
This article was originally published on 6abc.com.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- When you go to order food delivery, you may find yourself comparing apps to find the quickest or cheapest option. Well, a brand new Philadelphia-based app is now doing all of the work for you.
It's called Availyst and it's kind of like a food delivery concierge and comparison tool.
It organizes food delivery results from various services and puts it all in one personalized feed.
Mandy Poston came up with the idea during the pandemic when so many of us were doing a lot of takeout and delivery.
She felt like the process was confusing and disappointing at times. So she decided to simplify, and streamline it for everyone.
"The more I thought about it, it made a lot of sense," Poston said. "If I'm looking for music, I go to Spotify and it helps me find what I'm looking for. If I'm looking for a hotel, I go to booking.com, they're the specialists there. We're really trying to build a place for people who love food, to find what's available to them based on what they love."
From Uber Eats to Caviar to Chowbus, Mercato and more, Availyst aggregates results from more than 25 delivery partners, large and small.
It also allows consumers to find and sort through local grocery, convenience, and spirit delivery options.
What they're found so far in Philly is that our city is more into speed than savings.
"We found that people are willing to spend an extra couple of dollars to get their food 15 minutes faster," said Alec Kissell, the COO of Availyst. "Time is money."
Poston says she really wants this app to be a sort of matchmaker.
"If you're looking for something specific, somebody has it," Poston said. "We just want to be able to get it to you faster."
Availyst is in the Beta phase.
It's available nationwide in the Apple app store and on Google Play.