What Is It?
It’s a service for shoppers needing ‘bits and bobs’ from relatively local shops.
i.e. the kind of things you might need to buy/get done on your lunch break, such as paying a cheque into the bank, going to the bakery, buying groceries, getting keys cut, collecting a prescription from the chemists, buying flowers, picking up something for dinner on the way home from work.
Though, if a customer requested a long list of items, then the lack of stress from Go Fetch would suit them equally as well.
Parking is provided a short distance from a local shopping area, from which the customer tells Go Fetch their requirements, gets a quote, and a runner goes on foot/bike/scooter to fill the order. Alternatively, the customer has the opportunity to hire a bike for a few minutes to fill the orders themselves. Customers could be paid commission to Go Fetch items, etc for other customers. Customers could use the service as somewhere to hire bikes/scooters/mopeds for certain periods of time, for whatever purposes the customer should require, i.e. leisure.
A network of local businesses would be established, such that certain, defined services would be on offer, and to generate quotes, by knowing how long tasks would normally take.
Runners could be paid based on the number of tasks and their complexity, as an incentive for them to get the job done quickly, rather than simply amount of time taken. Due to certain times of the day and certain times of the week being busier than others, a fleet of runners could be on a very much casual basis, allowing employees to even earn money during their lunch hours of their main jobs by chasing tasks for customers.
As Go Fetch would be based slightly outside of the local shopping area, and bikes/scooters would be the main method of transport for the runners, one centre could easily be in reach of several different shopping areas, especially in an urban/suburban area.
Go Fetch could provide somewhere to sit and relax whilst their orders are filled, enjoying food, drinks, playing console games, watching television, surfing the net without the watchful eyes of work colleagues or the company’s internet filter. It could just be a place to hang out even if they don’t need anything fetched. Customers could even use the telephone or web to place orders for collection/delivery.
A lot of shopping centres/areas charge for parking, whereas with Go Fetch, the parking would be free and the money that would be spent on this is spent on sending others to do the hard work whilst the customer relaxes, either in their car or indoors whilst waiting. The London congestion charge could be easily avoided using Go Fetch, by placing centres a short distance outside of the boundary roads, and filling orders using bikes/scooters, both of which are currently exempt from the £8 per day charge. The centre of London and other towns/cities could easily be accessed using these methods of transport, even at peak times of the day, as 2-wheeled vehicles can generally avoid getting stuck in busy traffic, from areas well beyond reasonable walking distance.
Go Fetch could be used in conjunction with music festivals, etc so that people could enjoy such events without having to spoil their experiences by running around queuing for mobile phone charging, food, collecting items from their cars, etc.
A large emphasis would be put on keeping the price of orders as low reasonably practicable.
Why would anyone want this?
The zeal of parking attendants is well known, and many people get tickets/clamps when rushing around during their lunch hour/popping out from work, when all they need to do is pay in a cheque at the bank, get some groceries, a gift card for someone special, groceries, etc. Personally, I’ve had to pay several £50 fines to local authorities when just popping into the bank/local shop for a few minutes. Most people get put off local shops by this extortion. Finding a legitimate parking space, and then paying the necessary fees to a parking meter also seems a bit dear when you’re only going out for a few things.
Why not go just to the supermarket?
Many people prefer to support local businesses where possible, buying home made goods, etc rather than going to the supermarkets. Go Fetch would give local businesses a better chance to compete with the convenience of large supermarket chains.
Queues in most supermarkets are shocking at the best of times, let alone during lunch breaks or on the way home from work, when buying a just a few items can involve 10 to 20 minute queues behind those who are doing their weekly shopping.
As Go Fetch would be a very much commercial service however, if a customers’ list of tasks involved a request for something from a supermarket, then that would be no problem. That way, the customer wouldn’t need to pay £5 and free up a 2 hour time window to get shopping home delivered, as it would be delivered straight to them in person, most probably straight to the boot of their car.