Fadel for grocers and minimarkets
Your problem is dates, not batches. Stock leaves the shelf while it is still perfectly good, because the shelf has to stay ahead of the label.
Why good stock comes off the shelf early
A grocer’s surplus is written by a printed date. Yoghurt, labneh, milk, bread and packaged goods come off days before they are actually a problem, because nobody reaches for the item closest to its date when there is a later one behind it. The stock is fine. Its shelf position is not.
Produce is harder, because it is judged by eye. A crate that has been picked over is not less edible, only less attractive, and the pick-over is done by mid-afternoon.
Most of this is already booked as shrink. The comparison for a bag is not against full price — it is against zero, plus what it costs you to get rid of it.
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Short-dated is not out-of-date
You set the collection window, so you decide how much life is left when the customer walks out with it. Nothing should be listed that will be past its date at collection.
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Cosmetic culls are still food
Bruised, odd-sized or picked-over produce sells perfectly well to someone who came looking for exactly that and is not comparing it to a full crate.
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It brings someone through the door
A collection is a visit. The customer is in your shop, at a quiet hour, holding a bag they already decided to buy.
What grocers usually put in
You choose the mix on the day and describe the type of bag — produce, mixed, bread — rather than a fixed list.
- Short-dated dairy, labneh and yoghurt
- Bread and packaged bakery near its date
- Picked-over or cosmetically off produce
- Chilled and ambient lines pulled from a shelf rotation
The money, plainly
Fadel never holds your money or your customer’s. There is one number you owe us, and it arrives on a weekly invoice.
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You take the cash
The customer pays you, at your counter, when they collect. Fadel is not in the payment path — we never receive, hold or forward any of it. There is nothing for us to pay out to you, and nothing to wait for.
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Commission is 20% of the bag price
Charged per bag, on the price you set. The rate is written into each invoice line at the moment it is billed, so agreeing a different rate later never rewrites what you already owe.
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Only collected bags are billed
Commission is recorded when a bag is actually handed over. A reservation nobody turns up for costs you nothing — you keep the food and owe nothing on it.
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One invoice a week, in arrears
Once a week we bill the bags collected over the previous week: commission, plus VAT on that commission. Payment is due within 7 days. Those are the only two lines on the invoice — no listing fee, no monthly fee, nothing to pay to start.
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And if the invoice goes unpaid
Worth stating here rather than leaving you to find out: if you owe more than $50 and an invoice has been outstanding for more than 14 days, your shop stops publishing new bags until it is settled. Orders already placed are unaffected.
Prices are set and billed in US dollars. Any Lebanese lira figure shown to a customer is a guide at a rate Fadel sets; what the customer owes you is the amount recorded on their order when they reserved.
How it works
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Apply
Four short steps in the browser — your business, your shop, your pin on the map, who to call. Answers are kept as you go, so you can stop and come back. A person reads every application and we answer within 48 hours.
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Describe a bag once
In the console you write the bag up once, then say how many you will have and between which hours it can be collected. The price is yours, with two rules: at least $1, and the contents worth at least 2× what you charge. That second one is the whole product.
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Customers reserve
A reserved bag is held for a named customer inside your window. You see the day’s orders as a list, each with a 4-digit code against it.
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They collect, you take the cash
They show the code, you hand over the bag and take the money, and someone taps Collected. If a collection is marked that never happened, you can reverse it until the end of the service day.
Apply to sell on Fadel
Four steps, kept as you go, so you can close the tab and come back to where you stopped. We answer within 48 hours and we call you when we do.
Nothing to pay to apply, and nothing to pay to start.
Questions grocers ask
- Can I list items close to their best-before date?
- That is most of what grocery bags are. You set the collection window, so an item goes out with as much life left as you are comfortable with. Nothing past its date should go in a bag.
- How do customers know what they are getting?
- In outline, not in detail, and they are told so. You describe the kind of bag — produce, mixed, bread — and the contents vary by day.
- What about chilled items?
- Flag the bag as chilled and the customer is told to bring a cool bag before they set out, so the cold chain is not broken on the way home.
- Can I run more than one shop?
- Yes. One account can hold several shops, each with its own address, opening hours and listings, and each one’s bags are billed on the same weekly invoice at your 20% rate.
Questions shops ask
- Who takes the customer’s money?
- You do. The customer pays cash at your counter when they collect. Fadel never receives, holds or forwards customer money, so there is no payout to wait for and no balance sitting with us.
- What does it cost to sell on Fadel?
- Commission on the bags customers actually collected, plus VAT on that commission, billed once a week in arrears and due within 7 days. The standard commission is 20% of the bag price. There is no listing fee and no monthly fee.
- What happens if nobody collects a bag?
- You keep the food and you owe nothing on it. Commission is only recorded when a bag is handed over, so a no-show costs you the food you already had and nothing more.
- Do I have to install anything?
- No. The shop console is a web page. Open it on the phone behind the counter and add it to the home screen if you want it to behave like an app. There is no card machine and no hardware.
- Do I have to promise what is in the bag?
- No, and you should not. Customers are told before they reserve that the contents are a surprise, change daily, and cannot be chosen. You describe the kind of bag and decide what goes in it on the day.
- What about allergens?
- Because contents vary by day, customers are told allergens cannot be guaranteed and to ask you before they collect. You declare which allergens your bags may contain or have been in contact with, and that is shown on the listing.
- How long does an application take?
- A person reads every application. We answer within 48 hours and we phone the number you give us.