{"id":4957,"date":"2020-08-05T14:31:29","date_gmt":"2020-08-05T14:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mercuryorder.wpengine.com\/uncategorized-ie\/mercury-order-makes-shop-local-digital-amid-covid-19\/"},"modified":"2020-08-05T15:01:04","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T15:01:04","slug":"mercury-order-makes-shop-local-digital-amid-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mercuryorder.com\/ie\/news-ie\/mercury-order-makes-shop-local-digital-amid-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercury Order makes \u2018shop local\u2019 digital amid Covid-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Home delivery platform free to retailers to help protect staff and shoppers <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Irish technology company Grofuse is offering free online shopping software to retailers to help safeguard the health of customers, staff and businesses during the Covid-19 crisis.<\/p>\n

Mercury Order Retail was created by the Derry-based digital growth agency in an effort to promote social distancing and throw a lifeline to retail businesses amid the coronavirus chaos.<\/p>\n

Over the past year, the company has developed a state-of-the-art online ordering platform for wholesalers supplying the catering industry, a sector which has been decimated by the crisis.<\/p>\n

However, the Grofuse<\/a> team responded with innovation by fast-tracking the development of the new software as a service (SaaS) product to meet the needs of local retailers and communities, as demand surges for home delivery and click and collect services. As Mercury Order Retail\u2019s billing of \u2018essential in tough times, convenient for all times\u2019 suggests, Grofuse is looking beyond Covid-19 to a transformed approach to shopping local.<\/p>\n

Central to the design of the platform is that it\u2019s lightning fast and super simple to use for both retailers and their customers. Retailer set-up on the new platform takes less than 30 minutes. Set-up includes bulk upload of all products and the input of store(s) profile information \u2013 then online trading can begin, allowing shopkeepers to get their business moving again while offering maximum protection for their customers.<\/p>\n

Retailers are being offered three months free subscription to the newly developed platform when they sign up before June 1. The only fee payable during this time is a small per-transaction administration charge when receiving payment via the third-party card payment option.<\/p>\n

Grofuse Director Ian Cullen says the free subscription offer \u201cwill help retailers safeguard the health of their customers, their staff and the future of their businesses\u201d in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis and beyond.<\/p>\n

Mr Cullen explains: \u201cLike most businesses, we have been feeling the financial strain of this crisis, but we saw an opportunity not to lay off team members – rather to get creative and actively map out our recovery amid the coronavirus chaos.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are tough times for everyone and our team at Grofuse wanted to do something socially responsible to help out in what is the global crisis of our generation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith our workload significantly lightened due to the situation, the whole team was deployed to research, design, build and market a new online shopping software for smaller retailers in double-quick time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all put our heads together – from the isolation of our remote home workstations – to ensure this product is the fastest loading, easiest to use and most effective for the job. The fact that people really need this service right now spurred us on to deliver it as soon as possible and offer three-months subscription free of charge with no obligation to continue using the platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cMercury Order Retail is now ready to make \u2018shop local\u2019 digital, after a tremendous effort by the team over the past number of weeks as the Covid-19 menace gathered pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope retailers will take advantage of this easy to use platform to deliver for the needs of their customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making \u2018Shop Local\u2019 Digital<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Mercury Order Retail makes \u2018shop local\u2019 digital by providing click and collect and delivery options in what is a transformed retail landscape. The software simply plugs into existing inventory systems including QuickBooks Online, Sage One and Xero. It allows retailers to easily customise the customer interface for their product offering.<\/p>\n

Mercury Order Retail allows retailers to:<\/p>\n