Tautachrome (OTC: TTCM), the creators of ARknet, today announced the launch of MainSt.Shopping inside the ARknet mobile platform. MainSt provides shoppers and small businesses the power and utility of augmented reality combined with the accuracy of true local search using GEO location. Additionally, it provides store owners new to eCommerce, easy controls for store pickup, local delivery, and shipping.
ARknet conducted an invitation-only pilot program for small retail businesses with no setup fees, no monthly fees, typical credit card processing fees and a 2% platform fee, which amounts to lower fees than large platforms like Amazon. The average MainSt store with initial products, photos, and pricing took less than an hour to set up.
One of our pilot program vendors, Yin Yang Music, was mandated to be closed during the recent economic shutdown. The store’s owner, John Donavan, is a long-time musician who said, “MainSt shopping opened up a new way to sell when we were forced to close our doors. There are not a lot of other options. Other larger online platforms charge such high fees that I can’t afford to sell through them.”
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David LaMountain, Tautachrome’s COO brings over twenty years of public company investment and small business experience to the MainSt.Shopping launch. He said, “We are tremendously encouraged by the initial response and feedback from our MainSt pilot program participants. With the success of the pilot behind us, we are now focused on increasing the number of small businesses that sign up and start actively selling. We have taken special care to add key ingredients for small business owners such as in-app private text and video chat, easy to use local delivery features, and store pickup features. These tools help small businesses keep retail sales local, leveling the playing field against larger national retail chains.”
In the coming months, additional features like 3D augmented reality product listings are expected to further drive the adoption rate. We have set an ambitious goal of 5,000 small retail businesses to be actively selling and transacting $2,500,000 in sales by the end of 2020. Concurrent with these objectives Tautachrome expects to launch MainSt.Services for service companies and MainSt.Menu for restaurants and eateries.
