An online marketplace Dei targeting Little India merchants was officially launched today in Singapore.
Dei, which stands for Daily Everything, is a homegrown on-demand grocery delivery platform facilitating doorstep deliveries of groceries and other home essentials from the heart of Little India.
It was appointed by the Little India Heritage Association (LISHA) and the Singapore India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) to lead vendors into the digital age.
Dei hosts over 70 physical Singapore-based Indian retailers and over 15,000 products on its platform with top-selling products from India available for sale; product categories include canned goods, clothing, and perishables such locally sourced vegetables, fruit, and meat.
The speciality of Dei is that it allows customers to shop online and have their purchases delivered to the comfort of their own homes by its fleet of drivers as a single consolidated order as compared to the multitude of individual deliveries by other online marketplaces. This frees up customer time and provides a convenient and more seamless shopping experience.
Dei has experienced year-on-year growth of 120 per cent, peaking at an average of 50 daily orders with an estimated SGD900,000 in total revenue since its soft launch back in 2016.
It has expanded its offering through strategic partnerships to include supermarkets and local wet markets, alongside increasing its traditional vendor base.
Jay Varman, Co-Founder and CEO of Dei, said, “Dei was founded to promote digital transformation and introduce new technologies for Little India’s merchant community.”
“Shoppers can now shop online for their goods at their own leisure and enjoy same day delivery. With Dei, Little India’s retailers and merchants can enjoy greater access to the greater Singapore community and increase their revenue by up to 30 per cent,” he added.
Speaking during the launch of Dei, Rajakumar Chandra, Chairman of LISHA, said, “Dei helps to bridge the gap between e-commerce and the traditional brick and mortar space, allowing for the consolidation of shipments into one.”
“We hope to collectively onboard all business owners and merchants of Little India to ensure that everyone benefits from the nationwide digitalisation push. Furthermore, we are in discussions with representatives from Chinatown and Kampong Glam to expand into their respective precincts, thus providing a truly seamless experience for all Singaporeans,” he added.
Info-Communications Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) has appointed Dei as official agency partners on February 2, 2019 to contribute to Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative.
Dei is just one of two internet companies backed by IMDA, alongside Sea Group’s Shopee.
The company is currently in the process of raising seed funding to grow the company and to scale for future expansion; their vision is to build hyperlocal, omnichannel-integrated marketplaces across Southeast Asia.