E-commerce usage in Sri Lanka

The usage of the E-commerce platforms in Sri Lanka is rapidly increasing and is expected to double from the current 2% to around 4% to 5% by 2025, said Chief Commercial Officer Daraz Sri Lanka, Oshan Ranatunga.

He said that the shift towards the increase of e-commerce in Sri Lanka happened before the C-19 pandemic but it further increased during the C-19 time as many wanted to save time and transport costs.

He said that today most people use e-commerce platforms for food delivery, hospital consultations, hotels and air ticket booking and also for transport. “However when it comes to purchase of merchandise Sri Lankan People still prefer the traditional buying method of ‘touch and feel’ and to overcome this we have introduced virtual shopping.”

Head of Traffic Operations and Marketing at Daraz Sri Lanka, Firaz Markar said surprisingly it is the males that purchase more ‘fashion items’ while the females buy cosmetic and beauty items.

He said their flagship sale 11.11 will be launched from November 1 and they expect to double their sales giving huge benefits for their 60,000 plus local sellers.

The 11.11 sale, also known as the Single’s Day sale, is a global shopping event that started in China and has now become an integral part of online shopping in other parts of the world, including South Asian markets like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

“At this year’s mega sale, Daraz is pulling out all the stops to ensure consumers get the best choices and best prices and sellers get the biggest opportunity to maximise their online presence and reach new consumer markets across the island.”

Head of Corporate Affairs, Public Policy and ESG, Anishka de Zylva said that they operate their business under a Sri Lankan company and pay all the taxes due to the government. (SS)