There is a new delivery system that buys and delivers items via text message with your credit card or Bitcoin.
This novel idea saves time by simply having the buyer text a request to a phone line, provide credit card information once and approve the purchase from the text.
There is no need to look up the store. For example, a user could text, “Buy my girlfriend a dozen roses,” and the Magic system would find a store, determine the price for the roses (including tip and deliver charges) and send the information to you for confirmation. “Roses cost $98.17 and will be delivered today. Okay?” You would approve, and the transaction would be complete.
Transactions are not limited to U.S. currency – this company also accepts Bitcoin, which is a novel and potentially convenient bonus.
This is an amazing service in that they offer to bring to you anything you desire – a highly original selling point. There are other food delivery services on the market, but Magic alone promises to deliver ANYTHING that is legal – plane tickets, dinner reservations, a live tiger, groceries, and any other item that possible to purchase.
The texting service itself is free, and within the first 48 hours of going live on Feb 21, over 17,000 people have already messaged the site, according to techcrunch.com.
This delivery service, startup company was co-founded by Mike Chen as a response to other delivery applications being too cumbersome for customers. Chen was reportedly very surprised by his overnight success, and is trying to streamline the system.
He stated in an interview on techcrunch, “I had zero idea it would get like this. You know people say things happen overnight and I didn’t believe them before and now it’s happening to me.”
By March 2, the company had to put a hold on new customers and place them on a registration waiting list because Magic was overwhelmed by the amount of interest the texting service had generated, according to pymnts.com.
Once Magic has ironed out the details, the ability to text in any request can undoubtedly help many people, especially those in a hurry and those who do not want to be weighted down with minor tasks. It’s actually somewhat surprising no one has offered this service before, as there are undoubtedly many people who would love to be able to ask someone to run their errands for them. For the price of delivery though, they may be using the service sparingly – not everyone can afford a butler.