When Amanda Moriuchi and the AppIt Ventures team saw one of their favorite customers, a restaurant owner, in distress during the coronavirus pandemic, they knew they needed to act.
The Denver-based custom software development company went to work on a digital solution for restaurants looking to incorporate curbside pickup orders.
Without much time to spare, the team began developing a free app to help restaurants survive during these trying times.
AppIt officially launched Curbside, a solution connecting customers and restaurants for curbside pickup orders, on April 2.
“This app would’ve taken probably four to six weeks to develop, and we developed it in a week and a half and put together a launch plan in two days,” Moriuchi, AppIt’s CEO, said.
Curbside streamlines the ordering process, directly connecting restaurants and consumers with no intermediary. It also eliminates service fees and provides an option to schedule pickup orders.
“We knew this had to be simple, because restaurant owners aren’t technologists,” Moriuchi said. “And we knew we needed to design a solution that didn’t cost restaurants money.”
In order to utilize Curbside, restaurants only need a Stripe account and to upload their menus in a webpage that AppIt Ventures provides.
Once approved, restaurants can begin taking orders, edit available menu items in real-time and gather information on the make and model of car that will be picking up the order.
With Denver restaurants restricted to delivery and pick-up orders only, Moriuchi said this free app is designed to help restaurants stay open and alive during this pandemic.
“At the end of the day, we’re part of a community,” she said. “When your community hurts it’s your responsibility to use your time, talent and creativity to help other people.”
Restaurants that want to use Curbside can sign up here for free.
When this pandemic is defeated and the restaurant scene returns to some semblance of normal, Moriuchi hopes local favorites will have been able to weather the storm.
“So many of my good memories with the people I care about the most are tied to the Denver dining scene,” she said. “In my mind it’s not acceptable to reemerge from this without our dining scene intact.”
