This started with one customer in Malé who was sending money home every month and worrying about whether it was reaching the shopping.
Now six households do it. The order is placed from the city, usually on the evening before a boat, and paid by transfer. We make it up, ring the house, and either hold it at the counter or put it on the round. The person at this end does not need an account, an app or a smartphone. They need a phone that rings.
The note field gets used for messages more often than for instructions, and we read those out.
The practical lesson for anybody else doing this is about timing rather than money. Place the order before the boat, not after. The rice will be there either way, but the vegetables will not.