Merchant Terms

1. Commission and Fees

SideStop charges a commission on each completed order. Commission rates depend on your subscription tier:

• Free tier: 5% commission per order, no monthly fee
• Premium tier: 4% commission per order, $49/month
• Ultimate tier: 3% commission per order, $99/month

Commission is calculated on the total order value before delivery fees. Payment processing fees charged by our payment partner (Stripe) are borne by the Platform and are not deducted from your payouts.

2. Payout Schedule

Merchant payouts are processed daily via Stripe Connect. After each completed order, the platform commission is deducted automatically and the remaining amount is deposited into your registered bank account on the next business day. Payouts may be delayed for newly registered merchants during the initial verification period (typically 3 to 5 business days).

3. Order Acceptance and Cancellations

As a merchant, you are expected to accept or decline incoming orders promptly. The following policies apply:

• Acceptance window: You must accept or decline each order within the platform-configured timeout period. Orders that are not responded to within this window may be automatically cancelled.
• Cancellation allowance: You are allowed a limited number of merchant-initiated cancellations per week at no charge. Cancellations beyond this allowance will incur a cancellation penalty fee per cancelled order, which will be deducted from your next payout.
• Excessive cancellations: If your total merchant-initiated cancellations within a calendar month exceed the platform threshold, your account may be temporarily suspended pending review.

Current cancellation limits and penalty amounts are displayed on your merchant dashboard and may be updated from time to time at our discretion. When a customer's order is cancelled (whether by you or automatically), the customer receives a full refund.

4. Food Safety

As a merchant, you are solely responsible for the safety, quality, and compliance of all food items you list on the Platform. You must comply with all applicable Singapore regulations, including requirements set by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA). You must maintain proper food handling, storage, and preparation practices. If you hold halal or any other food certification, you may upload proof during onboarding. Misrepresenting certifications is grounds for immediate account suspension.

5. Data Protection

We take your privacy seriously. The following measures apply to merchant data:

• Your contact number and unit-level address details (unit number, floor, and building) are encrypted at rest using industry-standard encryption.
• Your business name, block/street address, and postal code are stored in plaintext to enable customers to find and navigate to your store.
• Customer personal data shared with you for order fulfilment (e.g. name, phone number, delivery address) must be used solely for the purpose of completing the order. You must not retain, share, or use customer data for any other purpose.

For full details on how we handle personal data, please refer to our Privacy Policy.

6. Account Suspension

SideStop reserves the right to suspend or terminate your merchant account at our discretion if:

• You violate these Terms or our general Terms of Service
• You receive repeated customer complaints regarding food safety or quality
• You misrepresent food certifications, ingredients, or allergen information
• You fail to fulfil accepted orders without valid reason
• You exceed the monthly cancellation threshold
• You misuse customer personal data shared for order fulfilment
• You engage in fraudulent or deceptive practices

We will notify you by email before or at the time of suspension and provide an opportunity to resolve the issue where appropriate.

7. Subscription Plans

Subscription plans (Premium and Ultimate) are billed monthly. You may upgrade, downgrade, or cancel your subscription at any time from your merchant dashboard. Downgrades and cancellations take effect at the end of the current billing cycle. No refunds are provided for partial months. Features associated with higher tiers (e.g. AI photo generation, priority listing, chatbot) will become unavailable upon downgrade.

8. Intellectual Property

You retain ownership of all content you upload to the Platform, including food photos, descriptions, and logos. By uploading content, you grant SideStop a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display and distribute that content on the Platform and in promotional materials (e.g. social media, newsletters). You must not upload content that infringes on any third party's intellectual property rights.

9. Contact

If you have questions about these Merchant Terms, please contact us at hello@sidestop.sg.