GroceryPal.lk Wins Silver at NBQSA 2016 for E-inclusion
In the recently held NBQSA 2016 awards, GroceryPal.lk won the Silver Award under the e-inclusion and e-commerce category, in recognition of the project’s features and facilities geared towards creating greater inclusivity of stakeholders that generally belong to the non-digital segment. NBQSA is one of the most prestigious and keenly competed events held annually by the Sri Lanka Section of the BCS – The Chartered Institute of IT. Conducted for the 18th consecutive year, the NBQSA serves as a platform to provide recognition to outstanding achievements of individuals and organizations in Sri Lanka for high quality ICT products.
The site offers an exciting range of customer centric features, including the “Colombo Office Run”, “Personal Shopper”, “Standing Orders” and “Snap and Upload”. In addition to the online shopping cart, grocerypal.lk is equipped with a myriad of features that set it apart from the conventional e-ecommerce sites.
GroceryPal delivers orders within 2 hours or less within the delivery grid, which currently stretch across Colombo 1 to 15 and surrounding suburbs up to Wattala, Kelaniya, Malabe, Kottawa and Mt Lavinia. All deliveries are charged a flat Rs.250 delivery fee, which is waived off for orders worth over Rs.5,000. Orders placed under the Colombo Office Run feature waives off the Rs. 250 delivery charge for all orders worth over Rs.3500 to any office block in Colombo. With multiple orders combined from one office block, “Office Run” offers the benefit of free delivery combined with the saving of shopping time for working professionals. This latest e-supermarket carries a full range of items available at supermarkets, and makes them accessible with a click of a button.
Speaking of the latest features available on the site to simplify the ordering process, Muditha Thebuwana, Team Head of GroceryPal.lk had this to say. “Our theme is “Saving Time for Good Things in Life” so, we wanted to make sure that we deliver that promise to our clients regardless of the operational constrains and thinner margins that some of these new features place on our business. Each of our special features are geared to solve an issue faced by our potential customers. For instance, the “Standing Order” feature is ideal for those who wish to send out a pack of grocery items to a loved one like a parent or a relative, but might be too busy to remember to attend to it regularly. You can even place your orders from abroad and these orders can be scheduled daily, weekly, monthly or on selected days across the year. You can also select multiple delivery dates at the same time. All this can be done instantly at www.grocerypal.lk.”
“Shop for Me” is another major value addition to shoppers who are not so keen to use the online shopping cart due to unfamiliarity with e-shopping or don’t have the time to click on over 50-60 items in a weekly grocery list. GroceryPal.lk’s Shop For Me function allows customers to simply send their grocery list to be shopped and delivered. Customers can send the list by typing and uploading it to the site or taking a photo and sending it via Viber or WhatsApp.
For those who are not familiar with those methods, GroceryPal will also accept the list via their hotline, so that customers can simply dial 5566888 when they require their grocery products.
“Our goal is to take e-commerce to laymen, than simply offering our products to those e-savvy customers. Not everyone in our society is at ease when it comes to using an online site and paying via online payment gateways, using credit or debit cards. Neither are they good with placing orders online. However, these segments of the society can benefit immensely from some of the conveniences, which e-commerce sites like grocerypal.lk can offer. For instance, senior citizens, stay-at-home moms and otherwise mobility-restricted persons can enjoy doorstep delivery of essential items with express delivery facilities. To cater to such people, we have come up with many features, which are operationally cumbersome to us, but highly beneficial to customers. We are very much encouraged by the fact that NBQSA 2016 recognized the effort we have put into creating greater inclusivity of the non-digital community into experiencing digital solutions such as e-commerce,” commented Thebuwana.
GroceryPal is owned and managed by Lfinity (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of LAUGFS Holdings. LAUGFS is one of the largest diversified business conglomerates and a trusted name in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1995, LAUGFS today has expanded across 20 industries in Sri Lanka and overseas, establishing a strong presence as a leader and pioneer in the power and energy, retail, industrial, services, leisure, logistics and real estate sectors. With over 4,000 employees and an annual turnover exceeding Rs.28 billion, LAUGFS continues to expand and empower millions as a trusted Sri Lankan brand.
