An app which eliminates the hassle of ordering goods from overseas
Perhaps one of the most asked questions from someone coming from abroad is “Do you mind bringing or carrying something for me please ? Or Do you have any luggage space for some ‘Ambul thiyal ?’ In most instances though, the reply would be in the negative, probably because someone else had gotten there first. But, now thanks to the newest app in the market ‘Turtle’ you no longer have to rely on your uncle, colleague, sister’s son to get you what you need from abroad.
‘Turtle’ is a new app that is designed by a team of five Sri Lankans. Its aim is to personalize international trade by directly connecting buyers with travellers, across the globe in a secure, efficient and affordable manner.
The app in essence, facilitates the purchase of an item from any country, and have it delivered in person by a traveller arriving from that country.
The user could log into the app and become a buyer or a traveller (or both simultaneously). The buyer will then be connected with the travellers, which will allow both parties to chat and agree on the item, traveller’s price and meeting place.
The concept had come about when Geoffrey was living in Australia, we are told. At the time, he was constantly asking friends and family to bring him items from Sri Lanka. The problem was, they weren’t always travelling. Geoffrey also found other people facing the same problem, that’s when he decided to build the app.
Sooner, he started searching for a suitable developer. “I found my perfect partner in crime in Lanka itself – Dinesh Fernando – who has vast experience in developing apps,” he recalls .
Initially, it took them a while to develop several versions and test it amongst themselves etc. “That took months of sleepless nights for us – especially myself and Dinesh!”
The team behind ‘Turtle’ comprises founder Geoffrey, together with Dinesh, Lakmal Fernando, Dominic Kellar, Shanaka Jayawardena, Ahmed Irfan and Rakitha de Alwis.
“The reason we called the app ‘Turtle’ is because we want to get involved in turtle and coastal conservation and everything to do with marine biology,” Shanaka tells us.
Turtle Founder Geoff Evarts
Turtle Co Founder Dominic Kellar
Turtle Co Founder Dinesh Fernando
The end goal is to build a community that’s not based only on making money. Rather, they look to build one that is also about helping people.
The app also optimises personal luggage space and reduces commercial cargo space usage. “This by itself can assist in reducing our carbon footprint.”
When it comes to international trade, security is always a key concern. Hence, the security measures in place for both the buyer and the traveller are of paramount importance.
Accordingly, when the buyer pays for the item, the money is held by Turtle through a payment gateway that supports an escrow function. Thus, if the traveller delivers the product successfully, the buyer confirms receipt on the app and the money is released. If the product is not delivered, the money is returned to the buyer. Turtle also retains ten percent of all completed transactions as part of their commission.
The Turtle team will also handle any transactional disputes, we are told.
For anyone worried about bringing in items that might get held at customs, the app presents the parties with a link to the customs website of the receiving country as soon as the transaction is initiated. This way, the traveller can determine if the product is eligible to be brought into that country.
Further security measures also exist within the app to maintain honesty and transparency. This includes verification of phone numbers and email addresses, as well as a rating system with set standards. Points are awarded both ways based on the transactions and ratings from other users, and tiers that go from Bronze, Silver, Gold to Platinum are displayed on a user’s profile to showcase their dependability in successfully completing a transaction.
Furthermore, when the traveller is to meet the buyer in person, ‘Turtle’ would also guide them in this process.
Aside from facilitating easy trading the team also hopes ‘Turtle’ will empower travellers to subsidise their travels, and thereby travel more. It’s other goal is for the app to also generate foreign exchange for Sri Lanka.
The Beta version of ‘Turtle’ is currently out on the Android and iOs platforms. “This was our testing stage. We actively plan to go into marketing very soon, in a couple of weeks,” Shanka adds.
For more information log on to www.turtleltrippin.com