MK Council has secured the support of a contactless order and pay service to help local businesses respond to COVID-19 restrictions.
The deal supports the Council’s #ShopLocalMK campaign, which it launched last week, with a competition for six lucky residents to win £100 worth of vouchers to spend on MK high streets.
Ritual, connects local restaurants and cafes to their customers by offering a way to place, pay and pick up orders through the web or an app. The introduction of Ritual in Milton Keynes will help local restaurants and cafes deliver their takeaway service, as well as allowing them to accept orders via QR code ordering for those dining-in safely in line with new government guidance.
To support Milton Keynes’ local businesses in response to COVID-19, MK Council has secured a deal with Ritual and PayPal which allows MK businesses to keep 100% of the profits of sales made through the Ritual platform until the end of January 2021 with no commission, start up or subscription fees taken by the platform in this period.
The offer gives independent businesses the ability to accept digital orders from their own websites and social media accounts. Ritual has also integrated with Google ordering which will help local businesses reach more customers.
Businesses must sign up by 26 October to be eligible for the four-month FREE subscription, which can be cancelled at any time. Local cafes and restaurants will be provided with ongoing support to help them get the best out of the service as contactless orders become increasingly popular. More information is here.
The introduction of Ritual will play a fundamental role in supporting small businesses as part of the council’s #ShopLocalMK campaign. MK Council recently announced a £2.25m economic recovery package to support local businesses recover from the impact of COVID-19.
Cabinet Member for Economy and Culture, Councillor Carole Baume said: “This is an exciting partnership which will give local businesses the ability to expand their capabilities to accept digital orders in a new way.
“Ritual’s launch in MK as part of our Shop Local campaign could give local businesses a vital lifeline to boost their sales. We know it’s extremely hard for local businesses at the moment and we want to play our part in helping them get through these challenging times. Council colleagues have been working closely with Ritual who are keen to support our Shop Local campaign – they are a welcome addition to the MK market, which has seen other innovative apps launch since the start of the COVID-19 crisis. I’m sure local businesses in MK will appreciate all that Ritual has to offer, including the free subscription and no commission.”
Ritual CEO, Ray Reddy said: “It's important to Ritual to help Milton Keynes businesses stay up and running while keeping everyone as safe as possible during this time. Ritual ONE and PayPal want to provide all our favourite restaurants, bakeries, and coffee shops the opportunity to easily offer contactless ordering for pickup, delivery, or dine-in. We believe local businesses are what make our communities thrive, and we are here to support them as we work with MK Council and PayPal to help kick start the economy again.”
