You’re reading an eChai Interview, an insightful and candid conversation with Entrepreneurs — a publication of eChai Ventures.

eChai Showcase : HotColombo.com

Today on eChai Showcase we are introducing an interesting startup from Sri Lanka - HotColombo.com - which is a mainstream marketplace, information site & delivery service platform that allow people to order and receive products/produce purchased from reputable stores, groceries, retails, restaurants & pubs in Sri Lanka through mobile app and website. 

Here is the insightful and candid conversation with Dakshina de Silva, Founder & CEO, HotColombo.com.

How did you come up with the idea of 'Hotcolombo.com'?

Well the idea “hotcolombo.com” came to us a few years ago (early 2014). Watching the pick-up of the E Commerce and online business eco-system in Sri Lanka (from mid 2009) just right after i moved back to Sri Lanka to work on the family business. The idea of an online service solution platform got me intrigued, so I was really looking onto tapping something new within something that was already there. So I shared my thoughts with Hasara Liyanage (cofounder, Hotcolombo.com) regards to what he thought on starting an online venture. And during the long brain storming sessions we often searched to having our food ordered via an online or mobile-based order and delivery solution. And we couldn’t really find anything that we could call a permanent solution. It just seemed all too disconnected. So that just gave us the initial idea for hotcolombo.com operations. Having to comply to something on the nature of the operational plan needed a team of highly influenced and determined team of individuals for the initial launch. Which Hasara Liyanage and i were able to source together.

What problem are you solving?

HotColombo.com will primarily work as a delivery solution. This connects the customers who are unable to physically visit the shop, to still enjoy the products, vice versa increasing the sales of the business. The present life is busy, stressful and hazardous. We want to provide the customers the opportunity to get their daily shopping done in a much convenient way. We also connect customers to shops, which are otherwise invisible to them. Most people have got used to few brands, and they do not discover the new and better brands. We provide the customers a wide range of choices.

We also identified that the new and upcoming businesses struggle when it comes to creating a good online platform, and allocating a sufficient budget for promotions and marketing. Which hotcolombo.com does this on behalf of them free of charge. We plan to build a large client base in Sri Lanka and to use our offshore contacts to create a broader market for the start-ups with new concepts. We provide them a separate page in our web platform, and we allocate special strategies for each company to improve their sales.

A trend hotcolombo.com identified is that some products are overprices, and discrimination pricing strategy is common in South Asia. We want to change it, and be the purchaser of a particular item, and get bulk discounts, which we will pass into our customers. (E.g. – A foreigner usually spends 500% - 1000% extra for some products).

Hotcolombo.com will use its merchants to Co-brand. This will let us increase the sales of a client who is falling behind, by providing promotions & complimentary services, etc. Hotcolombo.com will to optimize further marketing for a client with quality products. Our vision is to grow with the growth of our merchants and pass the maximum opportunities to them, then again not allowing unfair charges on our consumers.

How does it work?

Well its as simple as sliding through your apps on your iPhone.

What is your target market?

Well hotcolombo.com is just for about anyone who wants to make his or her purchases ordered and delivered via online. It could be the Sri Lankans offshore, shoppers in Sri Lanka and foreign visitors. Who wants their orders dispatched within Sri Lanka.

What is your competitive advantage?

Convenience, Fast Delivery Solutions (Tracked by Location), Largest online shopping aisle, and the hassle free shopping experience.

How much time did it take you from conceptualization of 'Hotcolombo.com' to actually launching it in the market?

Well all in all hotcolombo.com is 72 days due to launch as of 13th of February 2015 and the team have been working on the businesses and networking on it for just well over 4 Months now. And hotcolombo.com is currently in conversation with venture capitalists from the United States of America, Canada and Germany on securing investments.

Tell us more about your team?

We are a team of 8 standing ground on the targets set by the company.

We have,

Dakshina de Silva (CEO) managing the business network and attending the investments towards hotcolombo.com.

Hasara Liyanage (COO) manages the A-Team and the operations within the company, handling the packaging and vendors. He also doubles as our marketing head.

Nadine Mendis (Web Development & Designs) look after the sites developments and also does all the graphical designs related to hotcolombo.com. She adds color to our brand.

Tracy Kumarapeli (Company Secretary & Editor) handles all our documents and content and also keeping the company communications with the affiliating businesses.

Senuri De silva (Project Coordinator) tracks the company’s overall performance and makes sure things gets done and on time.

Dinisu Sohan (R&D Executive) looks into better technology for us to incorporate on our systems to becoming more efficient to provide the most convenient service to our consumers. He also takes time to assist Nadine and Tracy to make work more efficient.

What is your technology stack?

Well, we use a lot of the existing technology and incorporate new technology that can make our services more optimized. As for our backend we use MAGNETO. And to optimize we use TRELLO, DROPBOX, GOOGLE DRIVE, SEARCH METRICS, GOOGLE ANALYTICS & SKYPE.

How do you plan to market your product? What are your customer acquisition strategies?

We have a co-branding solution and affiliated marketing plan with our network of merchants and vendors. They co-promote us as their delivery partner. We enhance their sales via our aggressive online marketing and presence. And hotcolombo.com also relies on other venues of sales for our merchants. Hotcolombo.com will rely both on the conventional and non-conventional promotions. The site will introduce special packages only provided via the platform. Introduce loyalty programs and merge different companies to co-work into marketing their branded products or services, giving our consumers a better service and a reason to come back ordering via hotcolombo.com.

What is the revenue model of 'Hotcolombo.com‘?

Delivery charge and a commission for sales provided through hotcolombo.com

What do you want to achieve from this? What is your larger goal or vision?

Becoming the world’s largest online ordering and delivery platform. We want to focus on both the large and small-scale businesses, creating a whole new online eco system. We want to promote a culture, which is flexible and convenient for both customers and organizations.

What sort of support and feedback are you looking from the community?

We want them to provide the word of mouth, if they are satisfied with our products and our services. We believe that there is no better marketing than an assurance you get from a friend.

We also rely on honest feedback, so if there is a drawback, we could fix it and grow into a better service provider.