Two techies who use queue management systems to prevent crowding at stores

Dingg, which is awarded a grant under the government's CAWACH initiative, is growing massively as store-owners take measures to prevent over-crowding

Akshay Poorey and Santosh Patidar had known each other for almost 18 years. After spending years in the US and the UK working with several technology firms, the two friends from Indore eventually settled in Pune, an emerging tech hub. That’s when the start-up itch got to them.

In 2018, they launched a software product that manages bookings, inventory and billings, spiced with some CRM (customer relationship management) tools for stores. Their initial target category was saloons and spas, and then quickly grew to others areas like healthcare. While the business wasn’t taking off the way they wanted it to be, then came the pandemic. 

“With the pandemic unfolding in March, our business was down. At the time, we saw that people were struggling at grocery shops, milk parlours, and chemists, often violating directives of social distancing,” said Poorey, co-founder of tech start-up Dingg. “As a customer management company we had to come up with a solution.”

The duo quickly pivoted the offering to a queue management and token-system software for stores. The idea is simple: there is a dire need for social distancing, especially at high-footfall markets. What if there is an online software that gives users a ‘time-slot’ for their visit, resulting is lesser crowding?

The solution could work for all sorts of stores and physical establishments that attract large crowds: grocery stores, dairies, medical stores, and even launderers and doctors. That’s Dingg for you. Together with a customer app, a vendor app and a marketplace platform, Dingg is a software solution for stores to invite customers through appointments. 

Through Dingg app, customers can book their visit to a store; the system returns with a time-slot. The interesting bit is that it can real-time alert customers (through SMS), in the event their booking is delayed or has moved up. “So, in the case of saloons, if the previous client took longer, and thus, all the subsequent bookings are delayed, all those who have booked will get alerts with updated wait-times,” said Poorey. “The idea is to minimize wait-time, and prevent overlap, as much as possible.”

But everybody may not have a smartphone, and social distancing applies to everyone. To solve for this, Dingg has a unique solution. Every vendor, or store, using Dingg is given a ‘virtual mobile number’, explained Poorey. Akin to QR-codes, this number is displayed physically at the stores; users give a missed call on the number to book an appointment, which is confirmed through an SMS.

The missed call system is enabled through Exotel, a cloud communication company, based on APIs (application processing interface) of Dingg. In other words, Dingg’s software governs what happens when someone give a missed call. To add to that, the token-bearing SMS can be configured in any of the Indian languages, like Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi, and so on, so that it useful for a wider gamut of people, including elders.

The solution has also received a grant under the government’s CAWACH initiative. Through CAWACH, the Department of Science is currently supporting various Covid-19-specific technology solutions. Besides the grant, Poorey said, the government has inducted Dingg to Pune-based incubator Venture Centre to help scale the offering, and push it to other regions.

Dingg’s queue management system has found many takers, including, interesting liquor stores in the Maharashtra region. “If you are a school, and you have a parents-teacher meeting, we can onboard you in 40 minutes,” said Poorey, however, the company is not actively going after schools and other vendor categories because of less manpower.

Dingg has nine permanent staff, besides a dozen contract staff. The firm has been boot-strapped by the founders who have invested the initial seed money. Despite a minimal team, and funding, the over-380 vendor roster in two years is an impressive feat, gleamed Poorey.