Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
A ‘snappy’ way to join web traders?
A GROUP of Dundee entrepreneurs claim they’ve designed a way to give the city’s corner shops a chance to take on major online retailers.
Snappy Shopper is an app that lets folk order everything from sweets and alcohol, to milk and bread from local grocery stores, with the items delivered in around an hour.
The owner of two local stores has already signed up and the app has had thousands of downloads since it launched.
Scott Campbell, one of its developers, believes this will help independent shop owners to compete with the bigger retailers that many already order their shopping from.
He said: “The idea was developed over seven months before we officially launched.
“It helps independent stores enter the online market, which has been taken advantage of by the likes of Amazon and Tesco.
“Convenience stores have been missing out on this market and this app will help them gain more business by reaching out to more customers.”
Habib Syed, who manages Mace stores in Constitution Road and Lochee High Street, was the first to sign up to the service and now sells his goods through the app.
He said: “It’s a great idea and has been a very beneficial service for our customers.
“I am not making much money off it just now but as the service gets bigger, I’m confident more money will be made. It’s a good service.
“More customers who have never shopped in the store will also be able to shop here.
“The app is a big help to people who are not able to leave the house, or people who are too busy to take time out of their day to walk to the shop.”
Scott and his team will now start sourcing goods from the Lochee shop in a bid to give customers access to more items.
He said: “We are making this move to provide more for our existing customers and to attract more people to use it.
“There are big ambitions for the business — after expanding in Dundee, we hope to launch Snappy Shopper in different cities across Scotland.
“We have plans to launch nationwide and have thousands of stores signed up. We launched the app about four-and-a -half weeks ago and have gone from making next to nothing to just over £3,000 a week.
“Sunday has been our most popular day. It’s gone from strength to strength.”
The app was created by the 45-yearold, along with local businessman Valy Ossman and app developer Mike Callachan of MTC Media.