Shopping at Arpico has moved into the realm of cyberspace with the launch of the retail giant’s ‘e Supercentre’ – a sophisticated online shopping portal accessible 24 hours of the day from anywhere in the world.
Targeted at local shoppers who cannot visit an Arpico Supercentre for some reason, and at Sri Lankans living or working overseas who wish to have products delivered to family or friends in Sri Lanka, the online shopping portal is supported by a delivery service operating twice a day within a specified radius of each Supercentre.
Users pay for their purchases by credit card and may also opt to pick up their orders within two hours of submitting and paying for their items.
“We are intentionally late to enter the online shopping space because we want the offering and service to match the stature our Supercentres have achieved in the supermarket and hypermarket spheres,” said Minodh de Sylva, Head of Marketing at Richard Peiris Distributors. “Arpico Supercentres represent the pinnacle of the retail experience in Sri Lanka, and our intention is to offer the widest product range via our new online shopping portal.”
Accessible at www.arpicosupercentre.com the Arpico e Supercentre offers a sweeping range of over 8,000 products in multiple categories including daily essentials, household and personal care, fresh produce, liquor, general merchandise, homeware and even certain types of electronics items. The easy to navigate website takes the shopper on a logical sequence from selecting the items and quantities required, to specifying the delivery address and paying for the items via the highly secure SSL-certified Global Payments gateway.
Delivery of purchased items will be possible within a radius of up to 10 km from each Arpico Supercentre or Superstore for a nominal fee. Orders placed before 8 am will be delivered between 11 am and 1 pm the same day, while orders placed between 8 am and 2 pm will be delivered between 6 and 8pm the same day.
Shoppers at Arpico’s e Supercentre will be eligible to the monthly and weekend promotions as well as credit card-linked offers enjoyed by regular shoppers, and accrue the same points on their ‘Privilege’ loyalty cards. Additionally, a series of special promotions exclusive to online shoppers is also being planned, the company said.
“Although we expect expatriates to be one of the biggest user groups of the new online shopping facility, there can be many reasons for local customers to opt for the e Supercentre,” Mr de Sylva observed. “Just avoiding the traffic on our roads, bad weather, reluctance to miss watching a cricket match, or being busy at work could be a good reason to shop online and have one’s purchases delivered home.”
Offering the widest range of products, the Arpico retail chain comprises of 19 Arpico Supercentres and Superstores, 18 showrooms and 24 Arpico Daily mini supermarkets. The Arpico Supercentres are the company’s flagship outlets, offering extensive parking, bill payments, banking facilities, lifestyle needs and the widest range of products with the promise to shoppers that they are the most convenient shopping destinations in the country.
The retail chain broke new ground in value addition earlier this year with the deployment of its own dedicated taxi service exclusively for shoppers, a first for a supermarket chain in Sri Lanka.