NEWS RELEASE

Singapore, 7 June 2020

Singapore, 7 June 2020

CIRCL launches first ever instant

online ordering system

for restaurants and small

retailers

Enables set up of a free online store in 5 minutes

CIRCL launches first ever instant online ordering system
for restaurants and small retailers

Enables set up of a free online store in 5 minutes

Singapore, 7 June 2020 — CIRCL has launched a free 100% app-based ordering system supporting takeaway and dine-in orders for neighborhood restaurants and merchants.  Restaurants, hawkers, bakeries, convenience stores, and wet market sellers can now set up a free online store and take orders for free on an iPhone or Android with the CIRCL Store app.

Unlike other solutions, no approvals, technical skills, or credit cards are needed, so most merchants can start taking online orders within 5 minutes.  Photos can easily be added from the smartphone camera.

Singapore, 7 June 2020 — CIRCL has launched a free 100% app-based ordering system supporting takeaway and dine-in orders for neighborhood restaurants and merchants.  Restaurants, hawkers, bakeries, convenience stores, and wet market sellers can now set up a free online store and take orders for free on an iPhone or Android with the CIRCL Store app.

Unlike other solutions, no approvals, technical skills, or credit cards are needed, so most merchants can start taking online orders within 5 minutes.  Photos can easily be added from the smartphone camera.

Contact

Tel: +1-408-409-4533
media@circl.it

Consumers order ahead via a free app called CIRCL – also on iPhones or Androids – and then pick up orders themselves.
For dining in, they order and select their table number, eliminating the need to touch shared iPad menus and kiosks.
Re-ordering takes two taps – including all previous customizations.

Consumers order ahead via a free app called CIRCL – also on iPhones or Androids – and then pick up orders themselves.  For dining in, they order and select their table number, eliminating the need to touch shared iPad menus and kiosks.  Re-ordering takes two taps – including all previous customizations.

“App-based ordering has become the norm for consumers worldwide, as food delivery startups have shifted consumer behavior away from web-based ordering, which was far more difficult to use, especially when consumers are mobile and hungry,” said Jon Lee of Chong Pang City Merchant & Hawker’s Association. “We’re looking forward to deploying the CIRCL system to help our merchants qualify for the new $10k Digital Resilience Bonus announced by Singapore.”

CIRCL Store is free for the first 5000 merchants who sign up globally.  It includes a storefront on the CIRCL ordering app and a website with ordering menus, photos, and online chalkboards to instantly promote daily specials. To jumpstart adoption of the app, merchants on the free program will give 20% off the first takeaway and dine-in order for each registered user.

Unlike delivery apps which charge up to 35% even for takeaway orders with no delivery, CIRCL has no fees when customers pay in person. Delivery apps also charge $100-300 for setup and take days – not minutes – to set up.

“App-based ordering has become the norm for consumers worldwide, as food delivery startups have shifted consumer behavior away from web-based ordering, which was far more difficult to use, especially when consumers are mobile and hungry,” said Jon Lee of Chong Pang City Merchant & Hawker’s Association. “We’re looking forward to deploying the CIRCL system to help our merchants qualify for the new $10k Digital Resilience Bonus announced by Singapore.”

CIRCL Store is free for the first 5000 merchants who sign up globally.  It includes a storefront on the CIRCL ordering app and a website with ordering menus, photos, and online chalkboards to instantly promote daily specials. To jumpstart adoption of the app, merchants on the free program will give 20% off the first takeaway and dine-in order for each registered user.

Unlike delivery apps which charge up to 35% even for takeaway orders with no delivery, CIRCL has no fees when customers pay in person.  Delivery apps also charge $100-300 for setup and take days – not minutes – to set up.

Merchants may upgrade to accept payments online so that payment is made within the app when customers order, rather than in person at collection.  This enables fully contactless pickup and dining in with no more paper bills.

“We have been doing contactless pickup for 2.5 years with CIRCL. Four years ago, we tried to replace our dedicated takeaway stall with mobile ordering,” said Chan Hong Tong, 56, owner of Spinach Soup, a hawker in Amoy Street Food Centre.  “We tried every solution we could find — there have been many — and started using CIRCL in November 2017. The CEO often worked right at our shop. From the beginning, we liked how the system accepts payment in the app and automatically prints orders.  It has been by far the most reliable, so we dropped the others.”

Support for delivery using merchants’ own staff will be available by July, with integration to delivery partners thereafter.

“With the devastating impact COVID-19 has had on restaurants, we decided to make our restaurant ordering system free to local merchants,” said Timothy M. Lee, CEO of CIRCL.  “We redesigned the Store app to be easy to use for mom-and-pops, but kept the patent pending features that enable ordering and payment within 10 seconds from any type of restaurant.”

The app supports any type of restaurant or local shop, including fine dining, cafes, convenience stores, fruit stands, florists, farmer’s markets, pop-ups, wholesalers, home chefs, charity bake sales, and even the modern lemonade stand — a home barista with contactless pickup serving neighbors working from home.

Merchants may upgrade to accept payments online so that payment is made within the app when customers order, rather than in person at collection. This enables fully contactless pickup and dining in with no more paper bills.

“We have been doing contactless pickup for 2.5 years with CIRCL. Four years ago, we tried to replace our dedicated takeaway stall with mobile ordering,” said Chan Hong Tong, 56, owner of Spinach Soup, a hawker in Amoy Street Food Centre.  “We tried every solution we could find — there have been many — and started using CIRCL in November 2017. The CEO often worked right at our shop. From the beginning, we liked how the system accepts payment in the app and automatically prints orders.  It has been by far the most reliable, so we dropped the others.”

Support for delivery using merchants’ own staff will be available by July, with integration to delivery partners thereafter.

“With the devastating impact COVID-19 has had on restaurants, we decided to make our restaurant ordering system free to local merchants,” said Timothy M. Lee, CEO of CIRCL. “We redesigned the Store app to be easy to use for mom-and-pops, but kept the patent pending features that enable ordering and payment within 10 seconds from any type of restaurant.”

The app supports any type of restaurant or local shop, including fine dining, cafes, convenience stores, fruit stands, florists, farmer’s markets, pop-ups, wholesalers, home chefs, charity bake sales, and even the modern lemonade stand — a home barista with contactless pickup serving neighbors working from home.

Andrew Tay inserting a card into a takeaway bag to encourage CIRCL ordering.

Andrew Tay, 58, owner of Urban Smokeshack, a hawker selling smoked meats and seafood in Bedok Industrial Park.

“After Circuit Breaker started, we were contacted every day asking if we’re open, if we have a menu online, and if we can prepare an order ahead of time.  The day after the Circuit Breaker started, we started using CIRCL to handle those for us. Now, when customers order, the CIRCL app rings and the orders print – just like the delivery apps.  The big difference is our customers pick it up themselves, which they are happy to do to help us save the 30-33% commission that the delivery platforms charge us.  We are starting to insert cards into every takeaway bag to encourage our customers to order using CIRCL.”

TAKEAWAY F&B in CBD

Sandra Leonardi, Director of Salad & Wraps Pte. Ltd., which serves the office crowd with fresh salad and wraps out of two outlets in the Central Business District.

“We are currently on delivery apps and mealplan subscription providers, however they charge a very high commission of 30%-35%.”

“Few of our customers used our website to order.  They seem to prefer apps like the delivery apps since those are easier, faster, and more accessible.  We started using the CIRCL app two years ago and it has gradually improved so that it is now even easier than the delivery apps. Our customers can build their own salad from our 40 ingredients and then re-order in only a tap.”

“CIRCL provides welcome relief from the painful 30-35% fees that delivery companies charge — which restaurants globally have been petitioning to cap.  We’re dropping a small note into every delivery bag revealing this high fee and asking customers to order and pick up directly via CIRCL instead. Many customers are not aware that fees were hitting us so hard and are now gladly picking it up themselves.”

“With CIRCL ordering in place, takeaways are easier to manage and because it’s paid via app, we do not need extra manpower for our cashier and this also reduces contact.” 

Jacquelyn Seow typing in up her menu into the CIRCL Store app.

Jacquelyn Seow taking a photo for her online storefront using the CIRCL Store app.

Jacquelyn Seow checking her CIRCL Store app and serving a customer who ordered using CIRCL.  The blue CIRCL printer automatically prints every order.

RESTAURANT GROUP IN OFFICE PARK

Jacquelyn Seow, Director of Greenwitch Pte. Ltd., which has three F&B concepts in Changi Business Park that focus on preparing fresh, healthy foods.

“We tried takeaway ordering apps before, but customers were too used to queueing.  Now with safe distancing, they are eager to pre-order, skip the queue, and do contactless pickup.”

“We’re very busy at lunch making salads and bowls.  We chose CIRCL because it’s easy for our customers to pre-order in advance and customize orders in only a few taps.  For us, CIRCL is easy because orders print automatically.  We put each printout on a takeaway box to make sure we don’t miss anything.  It’s much better than our staff all sharing a tablet. Then customers can do contactless pickup from a collection table using the printed order number.”

“None of us are techies and we thought going online would be difficult.  But it took us only a few minutes to set up.  We loved taking our own food photos and seeing them online instantly.  Since we have two outlets only a few meters apart, we took photos of each one so customers would not order from the wrong one.  It was so easy!”

“Since our customers are all nearby, we plan to use our own staff to deliver.  When CIRCL adds its delivery function, our customers can then order and re-order from the same app for pickup or delivery with zero commission.”

“We now update our CIRCL Online Chalkboard everyday to let them know we’re ready to take their order and to share our latest healthy goodies.”

“We’re even planning on updating our Chalkboard with the timing of our bakings, so customers can plan a quick break with a soft warm cookie fresh out of the oven!”

Dawn Ommen baking with her CIRCL Store app setup and ready to receive orders

Dawn Ommen, founder of online bakery @mint and chocolate sg, a home bakery specialising in decadent desserts with no refined sugar and healthy grains.

“We started listing our baked goods on CIRCL last month during Circuit Breaker.  The app was easy to use and free, so I even let my kids play with it.  They had a blast setting up their own ‘bakery’ and sending hundreds of orders to each other.  That gave me the confidence to use it as my online platform for my healthy baked goods.  CIRCL allows me to easily review each order before accepting it. Now my regulars can seamlessly place their orders.”

“Currently we use online delivery services, so we’re looking forward to CIRCL’s self-delivery feature that doesn’t charge a commission.”

“With this ease of use, I am now exploring putting pre-packed baking kits on CIRCL too!”

Media Kit: circl.it/kit

Originating in Silicon Valley in 2017, CIRCL was founded by the former head of global e-commerce and innovation for Visa in San Francisco.  CIRCL is a platform enabling restaurants and local merchants to operate an online storefront so their customers can order and pay with a few taps of an app.  Merchants can set up in 5 minutes with no technical skills.  Customers order ahead for contactless pickup.  When dining in at a restaurant, they can order faster than they could with a waiter.  The CIRCL platform was engineered for ease and reliability, making enterprise-level capabilities available to local businesses of all sizes.  CIRCL Pte. Ltd. is headquartered in Singapore and is backed by 18 strategic investors from the US, Asia Pacific, and Europe, including Christina Gaw — Managing Director of Gaw Capital, Craig Petersen — VP of Visa, Davor Jakelic – Partner and Head of Capital Markets at Nezu Asia, and David Toh — CTO of NTUitive. It has been trusted daily for over two years by restaurants small and large – like Classified Group in Hong Kong – and their hungry customers.

Media Kit: circl.it/kit

Contact

Tel: +1-408-409-4533
media@circl.it