Hundreds Benefited From ENDS Pilot Project in Portmore

Chairman, Innovation and Digital Transformation Committee, Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), Christopher Reckord, says the E-Commerce National Delivery System (ENDS) had close to 500 persons being involved to earn during the first weekend of its operation.

The first weekend of the pilot took place from March 26 to 28 in Portmore, St. Catherine. For the second weekend, the pilot has been expanded to include Montego Bay, St. James, and Kingston, as of Friday, April 2.

In an interview with JIS News, Mr. Rockford said the ENDS project will have a positive impact on the country, especially the communities involved.

“If you look at the numbers, we’re talking over 400, close to 500 people involved overall, because the number of bikers and riders are over 108; registered vendors, 15; small businesses, 23; quick service providers between 8 to 12, [and the] number of employees, just under 400. If you add up the impact that all of those folks who would have been sitting at home doing nothing versus them out there now earning a living and also providing some sort of service and support for somebody else, the domino effect I think is very, very positive,” he said.

“The initial interest has been very positive and overwhelmingly positive… We have had a wide cross-section of businesses, restaurants, pharmacies, small vendors [and] corner shops who were very interested,” Mr. Reckord said.

He pointed out that courier service providers who were not operating in Portmore were inspired to come to the area and work during the ENDS operation.

“Initially when we reached out to them, none of them had any presence in Portmore, but they rallied their groups and because Kingston was on lockdown, they were able to put their riders in that area and service those customers,” he said.

For the pilot, Mr. Reckord told JIS News that the PSOJ tried to focus mainly on the pan chicken vendors.

“That was something that indicated inclusiveness and not just the quick service restaurant, because a lot of those quick-service restaurants already had their back end ecosystems ready, and we have to ensure how do we bring into the ecosystem, the smaller operators,” he said.

Mr. Reckord noted that some persons who registered decided to stand down until the pilot passed.

Items through ENDS can be ordered on their website: ends.gov.jm. The payment for goods and services went directly to the vendor’s bank account.

ENDS is a partnership between the Government of Jamaica and the PSOJ. It will allow the quick-service industry and delivery operators registered on the ENDS platform to operate during the hours of the curfew until midnight.

Customers will be able to choose from listed vendors and pay for their orders via a debit/credit card or a top-up voucher.