Specializing in groceries and essential items, N7T partnered with EFutures to build a holistic and inter-connected digital presence via e-commerce platform PROVIDORE. The concept was founded on the ambition to create the most user-friendly and functional technology to alleviate the hassles of traditional grocery shopping. “Customer experience shouldn’t be a compromise when shopping online”, says Meneka Galgamuwa, PROVIDORE CEO. “Fulfilling everyday grocery needs is only part of our service. Together with EFutures, we have built an end-to-end system which provides much needed convenience for today’s modern, busy consumer lifestyle”.
While e-commerce has been prevalent in the country, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic created an influx of consumers into the online space, to purchase essential goods such as groceries. In the midst of it, a number of key problems were prominent. A lack of real-time inventory and gaps within the supply chain led to partially fulfilled orders, together with spotty order status updates. Add to this the losses suffered by smaller producers and local boutique artisans, most of whom had only relied on in-person sales.
PROVIDORE aimed to change all of that. With EFutures by its side as its dedicated technology partner, an online e-commerce web presence was created which not only offered a smooth user journey, but was benchmarked to global standards with the expertise of tech-driven teams across the board. From initial market analysis to developing the final product, all aspects, including customer experience, have been unified with solutions that are technologically robust and versatile.
"Only a handful of Sri Lankan e-commerce businesses have harnessed the full power of technology to advance their business strategy. Therefore, we were excited to see the technology vision for PROVIDORE. We were one of the main IT solution partners in on the ground floor and we intend to guide PROVIDORE to reach its full technology potential", Prashan Nagendra, CEO of EFutures, commented when asked about the partnership.
Closely integrating with inventory, warehousing and logistics for a supply chain that is free of silos, PROVIDORE has been powered by Magento 2.0 for its online shopping cart system - while Celigo has been used as the middle layer to integrate third-party vendors offering ERP and warehouse management applications.
Since PROVIDORE pays prime focus towards absolute freshness & quality, this technology-powered leverage delivered by EFutures has proved to be advantageous in a number of key ways. Perishable items are ordered fresh from Nuwara Eliya farms daily and are delivered overnight. Once detected in a cart, the system automatically determines delivery and timing options – so that only the freshest produce is sourced and delivered from farm to table within 24 hours.
On the other hand, real-time stock updates are also realized on the website, so that users don’t have to risk purchasing a product that is already out of stock. This ensures complete order fulfilment, but it also further benefits the purchase and delivery of perishable items. Other features include a saved shopping list; which users can fill up with necessary items that need to be purchased on a regular basis. Add items on the list into your shopping cart with a single click, to checkout with greater ease and convenience.
PROVIDORE is now live at www.providore.shop and taking orders. In a short span of time, they have built a loyal customer base, mainly attributed to being able to fulfil everyday household needs, obtain the highest quality fresh fruits & vegetables received daily from Nuwara Eliya, carry an extensive section of local & imported products and finally maintain consistent service levels.
Together with its ongoing partnership with EFutures as its dedicated technology provider, PROVIDORE will continue to bring technology advancements, always striving to better the consumer experience and afford lifestyle conveniences to its consumers. PROVIDORE plans to offer a comprehensive retail experience by introducing new categories such as fashion, cosmetics, electronics etc. while expanding beyond Colombo to other major cities islandwide. A mobile app and new functionality are already in the works and will be launched shortly in the upcoming months.
EFutures is a boutique software product engineering agency that focuses on technology companies. With a 150-member team of expert developers and over 2 decades of experience, EFutures has served clients both locally and internationally across a wide spectrum of business requirements – for new and existing projects alike.