IIT-B’s e-token app to help grocers and buyers

To maintain physical distance and minimise the time spent in queues while picking up groceries and fresh produce at markets, a team of researchers from the Indian

To maintain physical distance and minimise the time spent in queues while picking up groceries and fresh produce at markets, a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) and Chennai Mathematical Institute have developed an e-token system for grocers and local buyers.

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Called SMALL-BAG — an acronym for Shopping Management App for Local Buyers and Grocers — the app uses both SMS and email. Once the customer has filled a Google form or sent a text message with their order to the grocer’s mobile number, a token is generated and sent to the customer by either text or email. The customer can check the token’s live status via a web address. The token’s status is updated by the vendor and customers can collect their orders accordingly.

“The e-token system will be beneficial even after the lockdown because physical distancing will have to be followed for a long time. The system is useful for managing crowds by minimising the number of people visiting the grocer, which will also be helpful during summer and monsoon months,” said Professor Bhaskaran Raman, department of computer science and engineering, IIT-B. Both SMS and email versions of the e-token system are operational at the institute, he said.

At present, the software is open source and the team will provide free support to set up the system.

With many local vendors accepting orders on WhatsApp, the team has created an online ordering system by which a customer fills a form comprising partial product information. When the order is ready, the customer receives an “order ready” email. “Orders on WhatsApp are very unstructured as compared to an online system. No third party in our online ordering system will bring down costs for the vendor while scaling up business,” said Raman.