BUSINESSES in Kendal have been called upon to take part in a collective delivery scheme during the coronavirus outbreak which registered its first orders yesterday.
Sarah Williams, manager of Kendal Business Improvement District (BID), said the town was the first in the country to sign-up to a delivery service via the Shopappy website, although other places have now followed suit.
The idea of Shopappy is that it allows customers to quickly search across retailers in Kendal, allowing them to search by product and ‘click and collect’ items.
But, with many shops now having closed their doors and members of the public strongly advised to stay inside, Mrs Williams said BID had worked hard to arrange a delivery service via the website.
“The consumer can go online. They can purchase ten products from ten different shops if they want,” she said.
“They can pay for it in one transaction and it’s delivered the same day.”
She believed such a scheme would help to support the high street during the coming weeks and months, and was better in terms of hygiene.
“Everybody has gone to the supermarket. And I tell you on Sunday there must have been 300 people queuing from Asda’s front door to the petrol station waiting to go in,” she said.
“People think this is like a week, it’s going to be over in two weeks. It’s not going to be over in two weeks.
“I think my daughter’s going to be with me till September because I don’t think she’ll be back to school this year.”
She expressed disappointment that more businesses in Kendal - including those already advertising their products on Shopappy - had not signed up to do deliveries via the website, calling it ‘bizarre’, but urged them to get involved.
“What I want people to do is encourage their local businesses to be part of it so they can have the convenience and safety of shopping in one basket,” she said.
Email sarah@kendalbid.co.uk for more.
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