Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City of Los Angeles are partnering with Ritual, PayPal and Venmo to launch 'Open for Business' a collaborative effort to help LA's small businesses and restaurants transition to contactless and touchless payments to increase online orders, according to a press release.

Ritual provides restaurants, grocers, butchers and bakeries the ability to accept digital orders from their own website or social media accounts. QR-code menus are available and customers determine whether to pick-up an order, have it delivered or choose to dine-in.

As part of the collaborative partnership, Ritual will provide a commission-free digital ordering platform to LA businesses at no cost through the end of the year. This includes waiving set-up, monthly subscription, and credit card processing fees and businesses can opt out at any time without penalty.

"It's important to Ritual to help Los Angeles businesses stay up and running while keeping everyone safe during this time," Ray Reddy, Ritual CEO said in the release. "We believe local businesses are what make our communities thrive, and we are here to support them as we work with Mayor Garcetti, the City of Los Angeles, PayPal and Venmo to help kick-start the Los Angeles economy again."

To encourage customers to order through a Ritual business, PayPal and Venmo will offer customers a discount on eligible orders from Ritual restaurants/businesses when they check out using PayPal or Venmo. PayPal will provide $1 million dollars that will go toward discounted purchases made by customers ordering through a Ritual business.

"Small businesses are the backbone of the economy and, during the pandemic and beyond, these businesses need to adapt to new ways of serving their customers," Dan Schulman, PayPal CEO said in the release. "PayPal is committed to providing small businesses with new ways to serve their customers and to keep their businesses up and running."