ARTECULATE
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Premium
  • Features
    IdeaBits-Founders- Mayan-Narendran- and-Dennis-Surendra

    Navigating the Storm: Strategies for Startup Survival in a Global Recession

    Sugar - Founders

    The Smart Way to Save: How Sugar Helps You Buy What You Want and Avoid Debt

    Breaking Records: PickMe Completes 100 Million Rides and Continues to Innovate

    Breaking Records: PickMe Completes 100 Million Rides and Continues to Innovate

    99x

    From Strength to Strength: 99x’s Steady Growth Propels its Valuation to $75 Million and Beyond

    Blue Lotus 360 Marks its 5th Anniversary: A Celebration of Success and a Launchpad for Growth

    Blue Lotus 360 Marks its 5th Anniversary: A Celebration of Success and a Launchpad for Growth

    LEARN | Higher Education

    Enabling the Future of Higher Education: The Impact of LEARN in Sri Lanka and Beyond

    LankaPay Cashless Businesses

    How LankaPay Empowers Businesses to Build Sri Lanka’s Cashless Economy

    Gapstars Scale Up Party

    Gapstars Hosts Major Scale-Up Party at Port City

    Creative Software Development Team Group

    Creative Software Leads the Way in Reimagining the Employee Experience in a Hybrid World

    Visa Value Added Services as Part of Visa Fintech Initiative Sri Lanka

    Visa is Helping Sri Lankan Fintech Startups Thrive with its Value-Added Services

  • Startups
  • Events
  • Hotpicks
  • Community
    Unlock The Secrets of Startup Funding with Founders Institute Sri Lanka

    Unlock The Secrets of Startup Funding with Founders Institute Sri Lanka

    The RiskSense Story: Building a Cyber Security Product

    The RiskSense Story: Building a Cyber Security Product

    Negotiating to Thrive – Lessons from a Hostage Negotiator

    Negotiating to Thrive – Lessons from a Hostage Negotiator

    First wildlife travel-based management lessons book by Sarath Perera to be launched

    First wildlife travel-based management lessons book by Sarath Perera to be launched

    Hack:bit 2020 is bringing the ideas of students and undergraduates to life

    Hack:bit 2020 is bringing the ideas of students and undergraduates to life

    ESCaPe 2020: University of Peradeniya’s Engineering Students Conference

    ESCaPe 2020: University of Peradeniya’s Engineering Students Conference

    Trending Tags

    • Contributor
    • Billboard
    SUBSCRIBE
    • News
    • Premium
    • Features
      IdeaBits-Founders- Mayan-Narendran- and-Dennis-Surendra

      Navigating the Storm: Strategies for Startup Survival in a Global Recession

      Sugar - Founders

      The Smart Way to Save: How Sugar Helps You Buy What You Want and Avoid Debt

      Breaking Records: PickMe Completes 100 Million Rides and Continues to Innovate

      Breaking Records: PickMe Completes 100 Million Rides and Continues to Innovate

      99x

      From Strength to Strength: 99x’s Steady Growth Propels its Valuation to $75 Million and Beyond

      Blue Lotus 360 Marks its 5th Anniversary: A Celebration of Success and a Launchpad for Growth

      Blue Lotus 360 Marks its 5th Anniversary: A Celebration of Success and a Launchpad for Growth

      LEARN | Higher Education

      Enabling the Future of Higher Education: The Impact of LEARN in Sri Lanka and Beyond

      LankaPay Cashless Businesses

      How LankaPay Empowers Businesses to Build Sri Lanka’s Cashless Economy

      Gapstars Scale Up Party

      Gapstars Hosts Major Scale-Up Party at Port City

      Creative Software Development Team Group

      Creative Software Leads the Way in Reimagining the Employee Experience in a Hybrid World

      Visa Value Added Services as Part of Visa Fintech Initiative Sri Lanka

      Visa is Helping Sri Lankan Fintech Startups Thrive with its Value-Added Services

    • Startups
    • Events
    • Hotpicks
    • Community
      Unlock The Secrets of Startup Funding with Founders Institute Sri Lanka

      Unlock The Secrets of Startup Funding with Founders Institute Sri Lanka

      The RiskSense Story: Building a Cyber Security Product

      The RiskSense Story: Building a Cyber Security Product

      Negotiating to Thrive – Lessons from a Hostage Negotiator

      Negotiating to Thrive – Lessons from a Hostage Negotiator

      First wildlife travel-based management lessons book by Sarath Perera to be launched

      First wildlife travel-based management lessons book by Sarath Perera to be launched

      Hack:bit 2020 is bringing the ideas of students and undergraduates to life

      Hack:bit 2020 is bringing the ideas of students and undergraduates to life

      ESCaPe 2020: University of Peradeniya’s Engineering Students Conference

      ESCaPe 2020: University of Peradeniya’s Engineering Students Conference

      Trending Tags

      • Contributor
      • Billboard
      No Result
      View All Result
      ARTECULATE
      No Result
      View All Result

      Behind the Scenes: How PickMe responds to a Lockdown in Sri Lanka

      Arteculate Arteculate
      December 1, 2020
      Ā· 8 mins read
      Behind the Scenes: How PickMe responds to a Lockdown in Sri Lanka
      Share on Facebook Share on LinkedinShare on Whatsapp

      If there is anything COVID-19 has taught businesses from around the world, it is the power of technology. Over the past year, many businesses have turned to technology to help their business survive. As such, digital services and technology providers saw a boom in the number of new customers. Sri Lanka’s very own transport and logistics service, PickMe, steals the spotlight as the prime example of surviving the global pandemic. In the words of the organisation’s CEO, Jiffry Zulfer, the company has pioneered in ā€œconnecting the online world with the offlineā€

      You may also like

      Gapstars | TukTuk

      Tech for Sustainable Tourism: Gapstars as the Technology Partner for Tuk Tuk Tournament 2022

      November 30, 2022
      GEW - Global Entrepreneurship Week

      Global Entrepreneurship Week Sri Lanka 2022 Has Begun!

      November 16, 2022
      PickMe Pass

      PickMe Launches PickMe Pass: Enjoy Unlimited FREE Delivery on all your Orders!

      November 16, 2022
      Gapstars | Great Place to Work | Technology | Culture

      Gapstars Continues To Break Records: Among the Top 100 Workplaces in Asia

      November 10, 2022

      PickMe’s strategies for survival during the lockdown

      PickMe | Mithila Somasiri
      CTO of PickMe, Mithila Somasiri states that the company invested heavily in building its architecture. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, these investments allowed the company to quickly launch much needed new services.

      To PickMe, customer satisfaction is everything – ā€œThe service we strive to provide, should be as reliable as the sunriseā€ says Chief Technical Officer of PickMe, Mithila Somasiri. During the first lockdown, we were not allowed to leave their house for essentials. In order to help out their customers and drivers in this time of need, the leadership team of PickMe swiftly responded with a range of new services.  

      The first of which was a strategic partnership formed with Litro Gas for the household delivery of LP Gas cylinders. Institutions in both private and government sectors witnessed PickMe’s success in the execution of this service and were eager to get onboard. Building upon this, the company quickly expanded to offer the delivery of essential groceries with Sathosa. After onboarding more retailers, the initiative has now come to be known as the ā€œMarketā€ section on the PickMe app. Since launch, over 300 merchants have registered and made 250,000+ deliveries with PickMe. 

      PickMe
      During the initial lockdown, PickMe began by delivering gas and groceries. This quickly expanded into the ā€œMarketā€ feature on the app, which has seen 300+ merchants registered and 250,000+ deliveries since launch.

       Last year, the company also introduced PickMe Flash, Sri Lanka’s first on-demand delivery service. It facilitated the transfer of goods, instead of people, from one point to the other. During the lockdown, several home businesses utilized PickMe Flash to reach customers. Even Sampath Bank utilized it to deliver cash to the doorsteps of its account holders. 

      The challenging logistics of a pandemic

      PickMe
      While there were some challenges PickMe had to overcome, technology was not one of them.

      Much like any company adapting to COVID-19, the team at Pickme had to overcome multiple obstacles in their journey. One would assume given the range of services the company launched, it’d have to constantly rework it’s tech infrastructure. In reality, this wasn’t the case. 

      Since long before the pandemic, PickMe has been constantly investing in its tech infrastructure. As Mithila explains, ā€œWe’ve built our architecture in such a way that we can enable new features to be easily rolled out with minimal code changes and lead time.ā€ Thanks to its investments in technology, the company was able to fine-tune it’s supply chain. Ensuring that deliveries were on time via the quickest route while being affordable. 

      PickMe | Isira Perera
      COO of PickMe, Isira Perera shared that the biggest hurdle PickMe had to overcome during the early days of the first lockdown was simply obtaining curfew passes. But once they’d obtained it, the service ran smoothly

      Yet, the logistics of ā€˜last-mile’ delivery, which delivery of goods to the customer was the biggest hurdle in the early days. Elaborating on this, Chief Operating Officer of PickMe, Isira Perera shared, ā€œThe early days of the first lockdown were challenging. Primarily because we were among the first to request for curfew passes. Afterwards, we had to put practices in place, in line with health regulations for the safety of our drivers and customers. We’re grateful the authorities supported us in offering a much-needed service to the nation.ā€

      Behind the Scenes – Innovation delivered by PickMe

      PickMe
      A glimpse inside PickMe’s Advanced Engineering Centre, prior to the lockdown.

      So what exactly gave PickMe their edge? Breaking down their business into simple terms, Mithila stated that ā€œMuch of the platform is just moving messages. But deciding what to send and when is the challenge.ā€ Much of this challenge is attributed to human behaviour. Hence, PickMe has invested heavily in data science and AI to anticipate daily usage patterns. With this, the company identified peak times were during mornings and evenings with the greatest activity in residential areas like Battaramulla, Maharagama and Dehiwala.

      Complementing PickMe’s exceptional use of Data Analytics, Google Cloud Services has identified the company as one of their key clients in South Asia. The use of such advanced tools has helped the company instantly locate their customers, connect them to the nearest driver, whose rankings and credentials are analysed, together with a display of the quickest route and an ETA – all within a matter of milliseconds. Mithilia shared that their algorithm processes around 80 million such data points on an average day.

      Through partnerships with Google and others, paired with its previous investments, PickMe was able to experiment with new technologies. All the while ensuring greater levels of reliability for its users. When the pandemic struck, it also enabled the company to swiftly launch a range of services that became essential during the lockdown. Moving forward, the company is planning to open-source many of these technologies it has built. 

      Lockdown II – Applying hard learned lessons

      When the second lockdown began, PickMe was ready. Having received curfew passes at the beginning, it began serving customers in these areas and saw high demand. This necessitated mobilizing a fleet of 1000+ drivers (Image credits: PickMe)

      Starting with the lockdowns imposed on Gampaha and Kalutara in October, Sri Lanka soon realized the much-feared second wave had begun. Having learned from the previous lockdown, this time PickMe was ready. Speaking to ReadMe, Isiria shared, ā€œRight at the offset of the second lockdown, PickMe received permission from the respective police divisions. We instantly experienced high demand for our services, requiring an operating capacity of 1000 drivers in these areas.ā€ 

      Isira also emphasized PickMe’s close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and other authorities towards ensuring strict hygiene guidelines were followed. Sharing the steps the company has taken for the safety of its customers and drivers, Isira said, ā€œAll drivers have participated in training programmes at our branch offices to brief our drivers of the actions they must take to ensure their safety and of our customers. We’ve also introduced in-app training programmes to ensure no room for complacency. This is made complete with daily temperature checks carried out on drivers.ā€ 

      PickMe
      CEO of PickMe, Jiffry Zulfer stated that the company is committed to supporting the authorities in their efforts to contain the spread of the virus (Image credits: PickMe)

      Beyond offering essential services to those who can’t leave their homes, PickMe has also utilized its technology to support the authorities with contact tracing. A crucial part of the response towards containing the spread of the virus. ā€œWe helped with contact tracing successfully the first time the pandemic hit the country and this time too we will do our utmost in supporting the authorities in this manner,ā€ stated CEO of PickMe, Jiffry Zulfer.  

      Mobility in a post-COVID world

      PickMe
      In a post-COVID world, our means of mobility. For PickMe, the focus is towards leveraging technology to offer greater value and flexibility for its entire ecosystem

      Recent news of vaccines offering strong protection against COVID-19 has been met with a joy across the world. Yet, it’s increasingly unlikely that life will return to exactly as it was before the pandemic. With an year spent indoors, working and socializing from home, technology has reshaped certain aspects of our lives. So what does that mean for mobility?

      For PickMe, the answer to that question is to offer greater flexibility and value through technology. Not just to customers but drivers, merchants, and other stakeholders in its ecosystem. Isiria explained, ā€œOur business is all about leveraging technology to create scale and maximising value. This is the essence of modern digitalization. With deliveries, we have our drivers collect and then deliver products to one customer and then to a second customer, without having to return to merchants. This applies to our ride-hailing business as well, where the moment a driver ends a hire, they’re connected with another customer. 

      He continued, ā€œWhile seemingly simple on the surface, these efficiencies generate  tremendous value for all of our stakeholders. Yet, behind the scenes, there’s a lot of effort PickMe has put into generating this value for our stakeholders.ā€ Adding to this, Mithila said, ā€œEven after the pandemic comes to an end, people will want more flexibility with mobility. This can take different forms, like an office shuttle service that drops you right at your doorstep. It could even be self-driving cars where you are the only occupant. PickMe is in a unique position where we can leverage technology to offer that flexibility to Sri Lankans.ā€

      Tags: COVID-19PickMeSponsored
      ShareShareSend
      Previous Post

      Gavesha: A Gateway for Kids to Build With Technology

      Next Post

      What it takes to build a cashless Sri Lanka

      Arteculate

      Arteculate

      Arteculate is your guide to the Asian tech industry. We give you unparalleled insights, accurate, local tech news, thoughtful features and sometimes scathing opinions on where things are headed. Stay tuned for the best of Asia!

      Recommended Stories

      Gapstars | TukTuk
      News

      Tech for Sustainable Tourism: Gapstars as the Technology Partner for Tuk Tuk Tournament 2022

      November 30, 2022
      GEW - Global Entrepreneurship Week
      News

      Global Entrepreneurship Week Sri Lanka 2022 Has Begun!

      November 16, 2022
      PickMe Pass
      News

      PickMe Launches PickMe Pass: Enjoy Unlimited FREE Delivery on all your Orders!

      November 16, 2022
      Gapstars | Great Place to Work | Technology | Culture
      News

      Gapstars Continues To Break Records: Among the Top 100 Workplaces in Asia

      November 10, 2022
      She Loves Tech
      Startup News

      The Winning Women-Led Startups of She Loves Tech Sri Lanka 2022

      October 12, 2022
      PickMe | Laundromat | Sri Lanka
      News

      PickMe Partners with Laundromat: Get Your Laundry Done in a Flash With PickMe Flash

      October 2, 2022
      Leave Comment

      Recommended Stories

      IdeaBits-Founders- Mayan-Narendran- and-Dennis-Surendra

      Navigating the Storm: Strategies for Startup Survival in a Global Recession

      March 27, 2023
      Sugar - Founders

      The Smart Way to Save: How Sugar Helps You Buy What You Want and Avoid Debt

      March 24, 2023
      Breaking Records: PickMe Completes 100 Million Rides and Continues to Innovate

      Breaking Records: PickMe Completes 100 Million Rides and Continues to Innovate

      March 22, 2023
      99x

      From Strength to Strength: 99x’s Steady Growth Propels its Valuation to $75 Million and Beyond

      March 17, 2023
      Blue Lotus 360 Marks its 5th Anniversary: A Celebration of Success and a Launchpad for Growth

      Blue Lotus 360 Marks its 5th Anniversary: A Celebration of Success and a Launchpad for Growth

      March 3, 2023
      LEARN | Higher Education

      Enabling the Future of Higher Education: The Impact of LEARN in Sri Lanka and Beyond

      March 1, 2023

      Popular Stories

      • Coca Cola and Avocado: A Partnership Rewarding Food Experiences

        Coca Cola and Avocado: A Partnership Rewarding Food Experiences

        0 shares
        Share 0 Tweet 0
      • Rhoda: The all-electric Sri Lankan Roadster

        0 shares
        Share 0 Tweet 0
      • Spotify Expands Into Sri Lanka: Exploring What It Has To Offer

        0 shares
        Share 0 Tweet 0
      • Leveraging the Power of AI: How EBI is Building a Digitally Inclusive Sri Lanka

        0 shares
        Share 0 Tweet 0
      • The DirectPay Story: Building a Virtual Bank One Digital Brick at a Time

        0 shares
        Share 0 Tweet 0
      No Result
      View All Result
      • News
      • Premium
      • Features
      • Startups
      • Events
      • Hotpicks
      • Community
      • Contributor
      • Billboard

      Ā© 2020 Arteculateā„¢ All Rights Reserved.

      Are you sure want to unlock this post?
      Unlock left : 0
      Are you sure want to cancel subscription?