“Hi neighbor, could I borrow a cup of sugar?” This is the notion that inspired two Frisconians to build an app that supports neighbors helping neighbors in one of the most practical ways — picking up items at their local store and dropping them off to one another.
The app is called nabo (pronounced nay – bo), and it’s all about lending a neighborly hand. (Literally — nabo translates to neighbor in Danish.)
Over the course of the pandemic, Frisco friends Jim and Charith, who share a technology background, noticed that people were looking for ways to help each other. In particular, they recognized that grabbing groceries for one another was a practical way to support a neighbor, but there wasn’t an easy way to track who needed what when they set out to shop.
“Our story began in Mar last year, when the pandemic hit us like a bolt of lightning and caught us unaware and offguard. It was then that Charith and I realized the need for a platform where neighbors could shop for and help each other not only to get us through those trying times but also when things were ‘normal’,” says Jim.
They decided to bridge the gap between neighbors who are at stores buying something for themselves and neighbors who are at home needing a hand. With that, nabo was bootstrapped and born.
Shop for them while shopping for you.
Quite simply, the nabo app helps neighbors shop for each other while they are shopping for themselves. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.
- ORDER: Order grocery delivery on the nabo app. (While large stores like Walmart and Kroger are already on the app, nabo will continue to add local, small businesses as well.)
- NEIGHBORS SHOP: Nabo shows your order to shoppers already in the store or planning to go to that store. Available shoppers can view orders and choose to help by shopping for those items.
- NEIGHBORS DELIVER: Your neighbor shops for your items, pays, uploads the receipt, and delivers them right to your door. Nabo will reimburse the shopper (and pay them any tips they earned for the delivery) via their choice of Zelle or Cashapp. (Watch this video to learn more about how nabo works!)
Grocery Delivery, Redefined
Jim and Charith designed the app simply to make it easier for neighbors to help their neighbors. To that end, there are zero delivery fees for your order.
The idea is to pick up a few items someone needs without charging enormous delivery fees or requiring a large minimum order amount to do so. Nabo charges a basic service fee ($1.99 or 5%) to cover all costs that make it possible to keep the service up and running.
Nabo allows shoppers to do good in two ways: shop for items a neighbor needs, and donate to local charities. That’s right, neighbors have the option of tipping their delivery person to say thanks for saving them a trip to the store. To further the neighborly nod, shoppers can choose to donate those tips to local charities, like Lovepacs.
And, as a shopper, you’re in control. You can see what orders are out there, how far away they are from you, and how many items are in the orders. You decide which orders you can help deliver.
If you happen to have a dietary preference, like keto or vegan, you’ll love nabo’s custom groups feature. You can form a group and help each other find items that fit your shared needs. Looking for a hard-to-find item, like a unique sauce, bread, or meat? Group up with other neighbors who are looking for the same item/s and let nabo help you score what you’re looking for!
Best Neighbor Ever
It’s evident the pandemic has changed the way we do things. We’ve learned that we can do things differently and use technology to accommodate our new behaviors.
Some of the new ways we utilize technology for shopping, food pickup, online meetings, and telemedicine are here to stay. Thanks to apps like nabo, here in Frisco we can shop with others in mind and make our neighborhoods more neighborly than ever before.
The nabo app has been in the works since March of 2020. If you ask Jim and Charith about launching a business, they’ll tell you it is tough, but if you do it with your closest friend (who also happens to share a mutual passion for brewing and tasting different kinds of beer), then it becomes a breeze.
The nabo app is live as of July 4, 2021, and available on Apple App Store for iPhone users, and on Google Play Store for Android users. Download nabo and get started today. Maybe you can lend a neighborly hand on your next grocery run.
Connect with nabo:
nabodelivery.com | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | LinkedIn
Related Media: Listen to nabo on The Frisco Podcast
