At a time when shortages in various stocks like gas became a prime concern, people have panicked and searched for firewood online! Taking on the challenge of reaching out to the people with what they needed online shop Kapruka in a bold move decided to sell firewood online and meet a demand that was kept [...]

Business Times

Sri Lankans in panic mode; search for firewood online!

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Mr. Dulith Herath

At a time when shortages in various stocks like gas became a prime concern, people have panicked and searched for firewood online!

Taking on the challenge of reaching out to the people with what they needed online shop Kapruka in a bold move decided to sell firewood online and meet a demand that was kept alive for about nine days, Kapruka CEO Dulith Herath told the Business Times on Tuesday.

He explained that this ran for only nine days and it really hyped up an immediate demand for a particular commodity. Close to 5,000 bundles were sold.

“More people were coming after it and then the hype died off,” Mr. Herath said adding that they sold the firewood at Rs.150 per bundle.

And now though they continue to have a bit of a stock of firewood it is no longer an item that people chase after as they had done during those nine days, he explained.

It all started off with the gas shortage in the Sri Lankan market that led people to start searching for firewood and this compelled Kapruka to take it up and deliver the goods that people really want, Mr. Herath pointed out.

He noted that people started buying this product so they could save and keep with them as an alternative for future use in case of an emergency.

Following this demand for firewood some laundry companies too had inquired from Kapruka for an order of about 3000 kg per day but this had to be declined since they were unable to supply this kind of large quantity.

Mr. Herath said they were on the lookout for the type of things that people were in general searching for online to ascertain the requirements of their customers.

He noted that during the pandemic they noticed that the demand for groceries had grown eight times larger than before the pandemic, which he believes is due to purely convenience.

An increased demand for oximeters and thermometers were evident these days while batteries have also become an essential item along with the purchase of groceries.

Thousands of oximeters sell within a day, and the main issue in these sales is in delivering them to people since they will be mostly purchased by those who might be COVID-19 positive, he noted.

The islandwide service by Kapruka is set to expand its offering to the sale of used items mainly retail purchases that will be made available by October, Mr. Herath said.

These items will be available through an auction process and people can bid and buy these used or old items online, he noted.

This new service will be available on a different channel that will be a sub brand of Kapruka, Mr. Herath said.

In this category of items Kapruka will also be carrying out refurbished services and also ensuring that purchases are made available from furniture to anything retail.

“Due to the import restrictions there is a huge reduction in the electronics space and there is a demand for old items,” the Kapruka CEO said.

He also pointed out that since people were finding it hard to afford brand new items this is likely to service that demand as well.

Moreover, Mr. Herath explained that consumers today like to purchase old mobile phones, used laptops or computers and any other electrical items as well

Another area of online sales that Kapruka will be expanding is in selling pharmaceuticals which has always been on their cards and will now be expedited under the pandemic conditions that require these services on a bigger scale, he said.

He noted that this is not a huge undertaking since the pharmaceutical purchases are based mainly on about 500 items, all of which are not readily available at smaller pharmacies.

This new service is expected to open before November and will be directly promoted and branded under the Kapruka brand name, he said.

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