Public Funding for Drink Tech Limited

Before Covid-19, consumer demand for convenience and online shopping were on a clear rise. Unfortunately for local high street shops, this meant reduced footfall and in-store sales compounded by the pressure of increasing business rates. The current pandemic has unfortunately **exacerbated the pressures on local shops**. It has also highlighted the need for home delivery, especially to those who can't physically shop for groceries and essentials, people like the **vulnerable**, **NHS staff**, and the **elderly**. The latest Google analytics Mobility Report for the UK shows physical traffic to shops is down by 41%. Unfortunately it's not uncommon to read headlines like "Coronavirus Shutdown Ravages High Street". While grocery stores are trying hard to meet delivery demand, they simply can't keep up. Average wait times are now exceeding three weeks. There is a solution though, our local convenience stores are well-stocked and looking for additional revenue. The problem is that to-date convenience stores have been underserved for online sales and delivery. That's why we propose developing and operating a **purpose-built online marketplace and delivery platform specifically connecting local convenience stores and customers need**. Drinkly started trading three years ago after understanding the need in consumer demand for ecommerce and the need for high street retailers to find new revenue streams as more consumers were shopping online. We focussed on the underserved off-licence sector and have worked hard to drive revenue to off-license store owners. Our efforts have paid off, adding over 30% revenue to our first retail partner. We've also been recognised by industry for our work, being named 2019 Scottish SME Digital Business of the Year and being listed as one of TechNation's Top 2020 UK Startups. In the throes of Covid-19, we understand how much more than ever consumers need home delivery of essential household items and that local independent retailers need to sell online to secure the future of their businesses during _and_ after the pandemic. With our knowledge of building a marketplace and delivery platform for the off-licence trade, **we're uniquely positioned to use our technical and business experience to make this project a success**. This grant will allow us to develop and quickly deploy technology to connect convenience stores and customers and **play an important part in helping customers and retailers during these difficult times and beyond**. CHANGE TO PROJECT SCOPE Throughout the project we have been constantly learning how best to bring our project to market and listening to consumer feedback to understand the best way to commercialise our proposition add real value to consumers, retailers and the economy by ensure we have a strong business model to commercialise. - We are looking for funding to secure 2 members of staff on the project to bring it to market - Based on retailer and consumer feedback we would like to supply drivers to retailers and are looking for the support of a third party to help us in this quest - We would like to get legal support to ensure we are compliant with all UK legislation to trade