Powercode lets online supermarket check shoppers’ ages

  • February 23, 2021
  • Steve Rogerson

Software company Powercode is helping Ukraine-based online supermarket Foodex24 offer customers age checks via QR codes.

Before the pandemic, many used to purchase staple foods online, but today shoppers go online to buy virtually everything, including items that need age verification. This means customers’ ages have to get checked over and over again, which can be annoying.

One answer is to check IDs online through a QR code and make the system remember which customer is adult enough for such a purchase. This is how web and mobile app development company Powercode in Ukraine is helping online sellers overcome this problem.

The technology has been integrated in the online supermarket Foodex24. The company launched its online-store in two weeks during lockdown last spring with its own delivery system and storage. And now the age verification feature has been added.

The Powercode system analyses the buyer’s order for age-restricted items. If it finds them, the user receives a warning about the need to confirm the age. The buyer can show to the courier a physical document or ID on the national e-governance mobile app Diia.

A courier application has information about customer age verification. If there is a need, the courier just has to scan the buyer’s QR code placed in the Diia app. The system then stores this information in the Foodex24 database, so customers do not need to re-confirm their age again and again when they order repeat items.

To make this happen, the Powercode team reached out to development team at Diia. Ukraine launched Diia last year. Since then Ukrainains have has the opportunity to access their IDs, driving licences and vehicle registration via the app on their smartphones.

Foodex24 guarantees delivery of an order of any weight and any set of goods in 90 minutes. It appeared on the Ukrainian market in April 2020 as an answer to pandemic-related problems.