Orel Corporation revolutionises the Sri Lankan e-commerce space with Orelbuy and Orelpay
Orel Corporation, a pioneer in household and corporate electrical infrastructure, has expanded its horizons, venturing the ambitious vision of revolutionising Sri Lanka’s growing e-commerce sector with its Orelbuy digital marketplace and the all-new Orelpay brands, which are a state of the art mobile payment application that offers the kind of convenience and security previously unseen in the industry.
Orel Corporation’s Business Development Manager Eshan Fernando says Orelbuy is a uniquely democratic and accessible digital marketplace where any merchant, big or small, can sell their goods and services easily and securely. This is also true for Orelpay, he says, adding that both merchants and customers can log in to both services using a single credential.
“When we sign up merchants, we don’t look at the size of their business. We encourage SMES as well as large enterprises to come on board and be a part of both Orelbuy and Orelpay, because it is the future,” says Fernando.
Orelbuy, now online at orelbuy.lk, is a platform that offers everything from smartphones and electrical appliances to furniture and beauty products, promising isnad-wide delivery at the lowest rates in the market. The company guarantees delivery within three working days, complemented by round-the-clock customer service.
Orelbuy also benefits from Orel Corporation’s already well-established logistics infrastructure that covers the length and breadth of the island, in partnership with a wide network of logistics service providers with a global presence.
According to Fernando, Orelbuy was launched in 2021 amid the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic when the company decided to help customers source their daily essentials during weeks-long lockdowns. What began as a simple but efficient online grocery run has now grown to be an operation that rivals anything else in the e-commerce market and, Fernando says with some pride, is on the cusp of being the country’s go-to digital store.
“Sri Lanka is growing around 20-30% a year on the e-commerce side, well in line with the global average. But with the current situation there is a lag in moving forward. However, if the situation returns to normal from January 2023, things will start to look up and Sri Lanka will start moving in that direction. We see that, since the pandemic, consumers are also moving more towards e-commerce, so we can expect growth in the sector,” says Fernando.
Arjun Roai, Orel’s Business Development Manager for Digital Commerce, believes Orelbuy stands out from the competition for a number of reasons, authenticity chief among them.“we’re in a highly competitive market, but Orelbuy is very different to competitors. We focus on high quality, original products. We only host genuine products on our site. We take strict measures to ensure that our merchants don’t sell duplicate electronics brands, for example. We scan the merchants to make sure they have the right, authentic products,” he says.
Orelbuy also offers customers the unique opportunity to pay for their goods on installment basis, a feature that none of the company’s competitors currently boasts. All of this is made possible by Orel’s innovative payment app Orelpay, and it is through this platform that Orel envisions the revolution of Sri Lanka’s e-commerce.
According to Roai, Orelpay is QR code-enabled payment gateway that consumers can use to pay for goods and services, not just on the Orelbuy website, but just about anywhere -both on the internet and out in the real world -- where merchants accept digital payment in that form. All a customer has to do is open up the Orelpay app on their smartphone and scan the QR code. Customers can use Orelpay to pay their utility bills, too.
While there are a number of similar payment apps currently in Sri Lanka, Orelpay is unique in that it does not require topping up by the customer. “With our app, you can just add your credit or debit card and use it,” says Roai. The app also offers cash-back promotions in addition to the standard loyalty points, or Orel points, as they’re called in this system.
Security is also guaranteed, says Roai.“orelpay complies with the Baseline Security Standard (BSS) to assure the safety of the users on the platform,” he says. Customers can simply download the app and sign up with an email address, after which they may link any credit or debit card and/or bank account in Sri Lanka which can be used to make payments.
Orelpay, launched in 2018, is an award-winning app that is recognised by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and is registered with the bank’s Lankaqr initiative.