Canadian Tech Startup EssentialGoods.org Finds Creative Solution for "Out of Stock" Essentials
SMS text alerts prioritize seniors and healthcare workers
COLLINGWOOD, Ontario, April 24, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- With the international COVID-19 pandemic and the push by governments to #stayhome, more consumers are going online to shop for essential items. However, online stores face the same out of stock issues as retailers, leading EssentialGoods.org of Collingwood, Ontario, Canada to create a new alert system that allows people to access essential items most commonly out of stock. After a quick turnaround, the service is operational as of April 20th.
"Currently, people are having to constantly be online monitoring stock levels to ensure their families get what they need," said Jon Gillham, CEO of adbank. "We wanted to take the stress and anxiety out of that process, especially for those most affected by the crisis, like seniors and front line healthcare workers."
The solution is simple:
1) The user creates an account at https://essentialgoods.org
2) The user selects the in-demand products their family needs most
3) Users will receive a text SMS alert immediately when that item is in stock so they don't miss the opportunity to purchase. The service is 100% free for seniors and essential workers.
Created by Conor Watt, Lead Developer at adbank, who had been developing a service that utilized an Amazon.com API, a clever pivot allowed him to create a stock level monitoring system that is now EssentialGoods.org.
"I realized that a simple tech solution could help solve one of the many problems people are experiencing during this epidemic," said Watt.
At present, the system only monitors Amazon.com, which Canadians can still order from, with plans to include Amazon.ca soon after launch, as well as explore other online retailers.
"Safety is a top priority during a public health crisis. This is why the team has built-in extra layers of quality control to ensure that people are being alerted only when a product meets their standards," said Narcis Bejtic, Operations Lead at adbank. "This combats low-quality counterfeit products as well as suspicious resellers."
EssentialGoods.org will donate 5% of profits to The CDC Foundation and The Collingwood Hospital Foundation. The service is 100% free for seniors and essential workers and will have a low monthly fee for other users to cover operational costs, after a free trial period.
Essential Goods was built by the team at adbank, a Canadian-based ad tech startup, building blockchain-based ad platforms that tackle the $50 billion ad fraud problem. Using AI and blockchain technology, the adbank network provides full transparency of transactions between advertisers and publishers while creating a new cryptocurrency powered ecosystem that detects and reduces fraud at scale. Their website is http://www.adbank.network
Media Contact:
Catherine Toovey
Phone: (705) 795-8505
Email: [email protected]
SOURCE EssentialGoods.org
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