PROPOSED ENHANCEMENTS
The "Buy Prince George's" online shopping portal is a tremendous resource for customers seeking to support small, local businesses. It makes finding local goods and services incredibly easy. And we hope to make it even easier.
New Era Ventures proposes to enhance the "Buy Prince George's" online shopping portal by converting it into a searchable, user-friendly marketplace that not only lists all of PG County's participating businesses but enables customers to purchase goods right from the site and have it delivered inside the County the same-day. These added features are intended to help drive sales and improve the local economy.
With $300,000 in funding, we will enhance the portal with said features, provide free onboarding assistance to owners, and deliver their intra-County orders to consumers. Funding would also be used to cover delivery fees for participating businesses and consumers in an effort to encourage their participation and patronage by offering free delivery for both sides of the transaction for the first four months.
easier online shopping experience
We will transform the existing site into an Amazon-style marketplace that allows customers to not only see what businesses are in Prince George's but search the entire catalog of products within the County and then make purchases - all within the same site.
FREE same day delivery (DURING INTRODUCTory period)
Unlike other online marketplaces, we propose to give businesses the strategic advantage of same-day delivery to be even more competitive against online rivals.
Because businesses and customers are both local, we are able to pick up the order when it's ready and deliver it the same day.
To encourage business participation, we will cover delivery fees for the first four months - enabling them to offer free, local delivery to their patrons.
free onboarding assistance & tech support
Joining a new platform can be intimidating. That's why a platform already integrated with major Point of Sale systems (eg Square and Shopify) is key. With a few clicks, products are onboarded and inventory automatically updated.
We have also developed a simple way for businesses to request delivery service - without integration! - for those who use uncommon systems or just do not want to be on the platform.
No matter their system or needs, our team will assist them throughout the entire process - helping them from start to finish.
after the INTRODUCTORY PERIOD
During the Introductory Period, there are no startup costs and no delivery fees. There are no risks to join - encouraging owners to participate.
After the completion of the first four months, we propose that businesses be charged a very competitive 10% transaction fee and customers pay a $5 delivery fee for the sake of the effort's continued financial viability.
Businesses may cancel anytime.
WHY WE BELIEVE IT WILL WORK
