A website to help locate stores open during lockdown
With the government implementing a lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19, it is essential that all citizens co-operate with these measures and stay at home. For everyday essentials, we have seen that some stores have pulled their shutters down or have limited supplies, while others have come forward to offer home delivery to promote citizens to stay at home. It has become difficult to understand which stores around us are open for necessary supplies and where to go to find them.
Currently, we see a lot of people cluttering in only certain stores, because they are not sure whether other stores are open or not, and are not aware of which stores are offering home delivery. This beats the purpose of the lockdown and 'social distancing', and increases the risk of infection.
We decided to build a website that will keep a record of stores open at this time and the supplies that are available. We launched this website at www.corona-help.in on the 27th of March, few days after the lockdown commenced.
Through our website, shop owners and other businessmen can add their stores and information about the supplies they have. They can also state whether they are providing home delivery. Users can search for stores by area and category of items. We are also developing a system to place orders for groceries online.
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Shop owners: Through our website, shop owners and other businessmen can add their store and details such as location, contact, shop timings, supplies available like groceries, vegetables, fruits, milk, medicines etc. They can also state whether they are providing home delivery.
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Users: Users can search for stores in a particular area and can see the relevant details. They can also search for more specific results by applying filters. For example, show only those stores providing groceries and having facility for home delivery.
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Online ordering system: To make it easier for people to stay at home, we are also developing a system to place orders online.
- Any shop owner can register for the online ordering service. For stores agreeing to provide home delivery service, the goods will be delivered to the orderer’s doorstep, otherwise the user can place the order online and directly collect it at the store. This will reduce crowding at stores.
- Users can select a store providing this service and create their own shopping list by adding the essential items they need. The items will be provided subject to availability.
- The user needs to verify his phone number by OTP, after which he can place the order. He will receive a unique ordering ID and a confirmation message on his mobile phone.
- The order will be received by the store. The items available will be packed and the bill will be prepared. The shop owner can mark items that are unavailable, and these details will be sent back to the customer via SMS.
- Billing and payment must be handled by the store itself.
Note: The prototype for the ordering system is on the test branch
