Singapore-based online marketplace Dei is celebrating its official launch in Singapore. Dei, which stands for "Daily Everything", was appointed by the Little India Heritage Association (LISHA) and the Singapore India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) to lead Little India's vendors into the digital age. It is a homegrown on-demand grocery delivery platform facilitating doorstep deliveries of groceries and other home essentials from the heart of Little India.
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. It
allows customers to shop online and have their purchases delivered to the comfort of their own
homes by Dei's 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.
Since its soft launch back in 2016, Dei has experienced year-on-year growth of 120%, peaking at
an average of 50 daily orders with an estimated SGD$900,000 in total revenue. It has expanded
its offering through strategic partnerships to include supermarkets and local wet markets,
alongside increasing its traditional vendor base.
"Dei was founded to promote digital transformation and introduce new technologies for Little
India's merchant community" said Mr Jay Varman, Co-Founder and CEO of Dei. "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%!"
"Dei helps to bridge the gap between e-commerce and the traditional brick and mortar space,
allowing for the consolidation of shipments into one," said Mr Rajakumar Chandra, Chairman
of LISHA, "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."
On Feb 2nd 2019, Dei was appointed as official agency partners by the Info-Communications
Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA), and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) to
contribute to Singapore's Smart Nation initiative. Dei is just one of two internet companies
backed by IMDA, alongside Sea Group's Shopee. It 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.
