Graticule Personalisation is launching Forage Lite, a retail technology allowing customers to order via text, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger contact-free from shops and restaurants during the Coronavirus lockdown.

The service has been designed for restaurants, take-aways, grocers, retailers and other small businesses, and is currently being offered free of charge to all small businesses in the UK.

It will enable customers to order, pay for and pick up orders via smartphone without having to come into an outlet’s premises. When the order is received and accepted by the shop owner, a link is sent to the customer to make the payment online. The shop owner is notified when the payment is processed and is given the number number plate of the shopper’s car.

When the order is ready the buyer is alerted and can drive to the outlet and text them saying they have arrived. The shopper’s identity is confirmed through the number plate and the goods brought out and placed in the boot without the customer having to leave the car.

Customers who prefer to walk or cycle to an outlet can pick-up orders at a pre-designated point.

Graticule’s chief technology officer Dave Hall said: “There is no need to be a techie or have IT support to set-up Forage Lite - shop owners and their customers can start using it as soon as they sign-up.”

The online payments are secure and use the Barclaycard or Stripe payment systems.

Rob Baker, chief executive of Graticule, added: “Forage Lite will help the country’s small retailers and food outlets operate more effectively and safely through the pandemic by taking away physical interaction through handling money or goods, while giving customers a more convenient and faster way to collect their orders.”

Share Story: