Derry tech firm Grofuse aim to make ‘shop local’ digital amid Covid-19 crisis

Mercury Order Retail was created by digital growth agency, Grofuse, in an effort to promote social distancing and throw a lifeline to retail businesses amid the coronavirus chaos.

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 hit hard by the crisis.

The Grofuse team has fast-tracked 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’s billing of ‘essential in tough times, convenient for all times’ suggests, Grofuse is looking beyond Covid-19 to a transformed approach to shopping local.

Central to the design of the platform is that it’s 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 – then online trading can begin, allowing shopkeepers to get their business moving again while offering maximum protection for their customers.

Retailers are being offered three months free subscription to the newly developed platform when they sign up before July 1.

Grofuse Director Ian Cullen explains: “Like 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.

“These 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.

“With 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.

“We all put our heads together 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.”

To find out more, check out mercuryorder.com