Co-founded by Prashanth Premakumar and Thibadharshan Kandiah, Direct2Door relies on partnerships with local grocers and trained independent contractors who shop the aisles, handpick quality groceries and deliver orders.
In Colombo, Direct2Door offers free delivery, often within two hours, while other areas are charged nominal delivery fees. This is completely different from the norm, which is to stock groceries in warehouses for long periods, make deliveries using fleets of branded vehicles and charging more than necessary in delivery fees.
The Direct2Door founders say that shopping online is an efficient way of shopping than to physically travel to shops and find each item, one by one, sometimes at different outlets. “This service not only saves a lot of time but also improves its customers’ quality of life,” they said. “We started off by monitoring the purchasing patterns of a sample of people and how they shopped for vegetables and groceries all the time.