A voice assistant for grocery ordering
She says
Two kilos of flour, one litre of milk, and some sugar.
Hello Beta reads back, aloud
Flour, two kilos. Milk, one litre. Sugar, two hundred and fifty grams. That comes to one hundred eighty-eight rupees. Should I place the order?
| Flour | 2 kg | ₹110 |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 litre | ₹66 |
| Sugar | 250 g | ₹12 |
| Total | ₹188 |
She says
Yes.
Order placed. Cash on delivery.
She says
दो किलो आटा, एक लीटर दूध, और थोड़ी चीनी।
Hello Beta reads back, aloud
आटा, दो किलो। दूध, एक लीटर। चीनी, ढाई सौ ग्राम। कुल एक सौ अट्ठासी रुपये। ऑर्डर कर दूँ?
| आटा | 2 किलो | ₹110 |
|---|---|---|
| दूध | 1 लीटर | ₹66 |
| चीनी | 250 ग्राम | ₹12 |
| कुल | ₹188 |
She says
हाँ।
ऑर्डर हो गया। डिलीवरी पर नकद।
She says
రెండు కిలోల గోధుమ పిండి, ఒక లీటర్ పాలు, కొంచెం చక్కెర.
Hello Beta reads back, aloud
గోధుమ పిండి, రెండు కిలోలు. పాలు, ఒక లీటర్. చక్కెర, రెండు వందల యాభై గ్రాములు. మొత్తం నూట ఎనభై ఎనిమిది రూపాయలు. ఆర్డర్ చేయమంటారా?
| గోధుమ పిండి | 2 కిలోలు | ₹110 |
|---|---|---|
| పాలు | 1 లీటర్ | ₹66 |
| చక్కెర | 250 గ్రా. | ₹12 |
| మొత్తం | ₹188 |
She says
అవును.
ఆర్డర్ పూర్తయింది. క్యాష్ ఆన్ డెలివరీ.
She says
ಎರಡು ಕಿಲೋ ಗೋಧಿ ಹಿಟ್ಟು, ಒಂದು ಲೀಟರ್ ಹಾಲು, ಮತ್ತು ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಸಕ್ಕರೆ.
Hello Beta reads back, aloud
ಗೋಧಿ ಹಿಟ್ಟು, ಎರಡು ಕಿಲೋ. ಹಾಲು, ಒಂದು ಲೀಟರ್. ಸಕ್ಕರೆ, ಇನ್ನೂರ ಐವತ್ತು ಗ್ರಾಂ. ಒಟ್ಟು ನೂರ ಎಂಬತ್ತೆಂಟು ರೂಪಾಯಿ. ಆರ್ಡರ್ ಮಾಡಲೇ?
| ಗೋಧಿ ಹಿಟ್ಟು | 2 ಕಿಲೋ | ₹110 |
|---|---|---|
| ಹಾಲು | 1 ಲೀಟರ್ | ₹66 |
| ಸಕ್ಕರೆ | 250 ಗ್ರಾಂ | ₹12 |
| ಒಟ್ಟು | ₹188 |
She says
ಹೌದು.
ಆರ್ಡರ್ ಆಗಿದೆ. ಕ್ಯಾಶ್ ಆನ್ ಡೆಲಿವರಿ.
An example exchange. The prices are illustrative. Nothing is ordered until it has been read back and confirmed out loud.
Speak your grocery list in your own words, in English, Hindi, Telugu or Kannada. Hello Beta finds the items, reads the basket and the total back to you, and places the order after you say yes. Payment is cash on delivery.
Who it is for
People who find shopping apps difficult to use. There is no list to scroll, no search box to type into, and no payment screen. The only interface is the conversation.
How it works
You speak. Say what you need the way you would say it to a person, in whichever of the supported languages you actually speak. You do not have to name products the way a catalogue names them.
It reads the basket back. Every item, every quantity, and the total, out loud and in the same language, before anything is ordered.
You confirm out loud. Nothing is ordered until you say yes. Orders are cash on delivery, so no card or payment detail is ever entered or stored.
A family member can help. A companion app lets one family member link the household account and see completed orders. They do not need to place the order or be present for it.
Where the project is today
- Running on
- A single Android phone, in one household.
- Languages
- Conversations and orders work end to end in English, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada.
- Ordering from
- A local grocery catalogue used for development. There is no live connection to any grocery service yet.
- Customers
- None. The product is not open for signups.
- Working on
- Connecting it to a real grocery catalogue, so that the orders it places are real orders.
Handling of data
Hello Beta stores no payment details, because it never takes any. Orders are cash on delivery and the product has no payment screen.
The basket for each call is kept afterwards, because that is what a family member sees in the companion app. Delivery addresses are not kept: your address stays in your Swiggy account, and the label the screen shows during a call is cleared when the call ends.
Access tokens for a linked account are stored one row per household in Postgres behind row-level security, reachable only by a server-side service role. The public key shipped inside the app binaries has no policy granting it access to that table.
The full detail is in the privacy policy. The security note goes further, including the one table that is deliberately readable with the app’s public key and why.
Contact
Hello Beta is built and operated by Mohit Shukla in Hyderabad, India.