Local grocery stores are not online, their physical only presence means that during lockdown, people near the area have to go to the stores in-person. This has resulted in these stores (mostly small in space) becoming overcrowded with consumers.
Also consumers might have to wait a long time before they are able enter the store and buy products and often result in situation where some of the products they would like to buy are out of stock.
The opening hours of these store are not fixed.
It is hard for the owners of the stores to manage the social distancing of people when they come to their store.
Stores are also finding it difficult to effectively manage their inventory.
Owners are coming under risk of getting COVID-19 as they have to remain open for long times.
Consumers time is wasted and are at risk by being close to other people.
Also don't know if the shop is open till they reach the shop or if they will get the products that they would like.
Sms can be used to digitise the local grocery store; which will allow consumers to do their grocery shopping remotely/online and not require them to visit stores in person.
Consumers send a sms that they want to place a new order. Based on their location, they get send a unique link (that last for 30 mins) which redirects them to a webpage where they can place an order (max 10 items).
They receive a sms when the order is ready and go to the store to simply pickup and pay using mobile wallets.
Users save the number of Shop Local on their phone contacts and send a sms "new user" to register to the service.
Shop local will reply back with a link that will redirect users to insert their name and address where they live. This information is required to search shops that are near the user.
When user has to place a new order they can simply send a sms to the Shop local number writing "new order". Based on their location they will receive a unique link (that will last for 30 mins) that will redirect the user to a webpage where they can place their order.
Users will see all the items that are in the store that they had chosen. There is a limit of 10 items for each user per order. This is to make sure that items do not run out of stock quickly during the quarantine situation. This also prevents users from overbuying some ingredients and storing them at home.
Once the order is place, the users will get a confirmation sms from Shop local. And also see an approximate time it will take for their order to be ready.
Once the owner of the shop has finished preparing the order, the user will get a sms from Shop local that their order is ready for pick up.
User can then go to the shop and show this message to the owner and collect and pay for their order without having to wait in the queue outside the shop.
Problem: In India, many people do their daily groceries at a Kirana store near their houses. These Kirana stores are small, usually family-owned shop selling groceries and other sundries. These store do not have an online presence. During COVID-19, these stores find it difficult to manage the flow and safety (social distancing standards) of people that come in their stores.
