Creators of WhatsApp shopping app jubilant over success
After months of perseverance, trials and tribulations, two locals have developed an app to be used on WhatsApp.
TWO local lads have developed an app for WhatsApp that they say allows its users to order ‘almost anything from a local garage’. The local garage is Engen La Lucia and if these two have their way they say the plan is to be able to have shoppers simply send a WhatsApp and order their full compliment of groceries.
Alan Beukes and Emryn Bense said: “As of 24 November we were live for 30 days and already our app is a hit. We already have 100 users. We saw a need. Everybody is on their phones, everybody is on WhatsApp, its a free flow of information. We noticed that when people try to order food by calling fast food outlets, the lines are often congested with ten people trying to place an order at one time. Either the person taking your call can’t hear what you are saying or vice versa.”
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The app, according to Beukes and Bense allows people in a five kilometre radius of Engen La Lucia to order almost anything from the store that includes a Woolworths and a Steers.
“Its called OrderShare. All you do is download the app, enter your details ,which remain confidential and once these are captured, you are able to send us a WhatsAapp and order anything that Engen La Lucia stocks. Your order will be delivered within the hour,” said Beukes, a 25-year-old Durban North resident.
On how it all began, Bense, 26, said: “We were both fitness instructors working at Virgin Active and we became friends. Having worked in the service industry, we understand it and knew what we could bring to it.”
Emryn who hails from Richards Bay but lives in La Lucia said while the app was being widely used, it was not plain sailing from the start.
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“Developing the app was a challenge. We knew nothing about how to build an app, we both fitness instructors and surfers and were clueless about to do this. We learned from scratch by reading everything we could on how to build an app and watching YouTube videos. In the beginning this app was dreadful, but we persevered and its paying off now. ”
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