Supplier Intake · Operating Doctrine

§1 · What it is

The Supplier Intake at /carrot-intake is the public-facing four-step form that turns a curious visitor into a tracked Carrot submission. It is the only door — every supplier journey begins here.

The form is split into four steps to keep cognitive load low: About you · Material · Collection · Confirm. A progress bar at the top tells the user where they are. The submit button pulses gently. On success, confetti bursts and the page transitions to a confirmation screen with a reference number.

§2 · How to operate it

Operator side (you don't really)

The intake is a self-service surface. Operators don't operate it directly — they operate the Watcher (/carrot-watcher) which receives every submission. But operators do shape it:

1. Hero copy. "£200 same-day · 40 meals · verified material" lives in the hero. Edit templates/carrot_intake.html to change pricing or proposition.
2. Trust badges. Four pills under the hero (Google Validated · SHA-256 · 7% to Meals · Same-day pay). Reorder by importance to your current campaign.
3. FAQ. Five common questions with collapsible answers. Add or remove based on what suppliers actually ask.
4. Material types. Plastic · Paper · Glass · Metal · Other. Add new material categories in the step-2 select element.

Supplier side

Two minutes if they hurry, four if they read. The form auto-saves to localStorage every 10 seconds — if their phone dies, they come back and pick up where they left off (within 7 days).

§3 · Functions exposed

Validations

• Email regex + domain check
• UK postcode regex (e.g. DY5 2UA)
• All three Covenant checkboxes required (clean · 7%/40 meals · same-day terms)
• Per-step required-field gating (can't advance without filling)

§4 · How it helps now

• Reduces friction. A single shareable URL replaces every other intake channel (DM, voice note, email screenshot).
• Mobile-first. 70% of supplier traffic comes from a phone. The form is responsive, big tap-targets, no zoom-in needed.
• Auto-saves. A supplier interrupted halfway through still completes 24 hours later — the draft persists.
• Live email check. Returning suppliers see "Welcome back" before they've even submitted — increases trust.
• Confetti finish. A small joy. Suppliers remember it. They tell other suppliers.

§5 · How it helps in the future

• QR-code pre-fill. Material-type-specific QR codes shorten the form (skip step 2). Print on Carrot Kit signage.
• WhatsApp gateway. Same form, surfaced inside WhatsApp Business. Sub-30-second submission.
• Address autocomplete. Google Places integration drops Step-3 typing time by 60%.
• Multi-language. Polish · Urdu · Arabic — major supplier-side languages in Birmingham. Translation files keyed to step labels.
• Photo upload. Add an optional Step 2.5 — "show us the material." Helps fraud detection and verification routing.
• Referral capture. Hidden field stamps which Mycelium connection brought this supplier in (?ref=...).

§6 · How to make it better

1. Welcome email. Currently ack-only at the page. Add SMTP-triggered "Welcome to the Carrot" email with kit download link and operator phone number.
2. Inline video. A 30-second Lottie or MP4 in a collapsed "Watch how it works" toggle (mobile-data friendly).
3. Testimonial carousel. Three rotating supplier quotes below the FAQ. Social proof in the lower-fold space.
4. Real Truth Ledger badge. The badge currently links to the page; make it dynamic — pull this week's verified-tonne count and put it in the badge text.
5. Step skipping. Returning suppliers (matched by email) skip Step 1 entirely.
6. Accessibility audit. Run axe-core; current colour contrast on the orange CTA buttons is borderline.
7. A/B test the headline. "Join The Carrot" vs "Get £200 today" — measure conversion delta.

§7 · Connected MDs

• MD-233 · The Original Carrot — the offer being made.
• MD-363 · Three-Engine Architecture — Engine 2 lives here.
• MD-458 · Carrot Watcher Operating Doctrine — the operator console.
• MD-460 · dPRN Console Operating Doctrine — the downstream vault.
• MD-452 · The Pathway · 1/3 Client — what happens after they're in.