E-commerce start-ups on the rise in Sri Lanka

• Start-up Ranking outlines the top global and local start-ups dominating the e-commerce arena

The e-commerce industry has experienced monumental growth over the last few years, with a burst of innovative online start-ups making their mark both globally and locally. 

Through an integrated scoring system that assesses the importance of a start-up on the internet and its social influence, Start-up Ranking (www.startupranking.com), has identified the top online start-ups around the world that are effectively using the internet to engage customers, build a brand and generate revenue. 

Sri Lanka’s start-up culture has continued to boom over the last few years with more entrepreneurs and companies embracing the use of digital platforms to drive their businesses. 

Top global online start-ups: The Start-up Ranking website uses an SR Web, SR Social score and SRank to calculate the overall SR score of start-ups that have registered on the site. The SR score is what reflects each start-up’s effectiveness online and its social impact. 

Globally, three US-based start-ups have secured the top spots on the global rankings, with MailChimp leading at the top with a SR score of 92,984, followed closely by Behance with a score of 92,893 and HubSpot coming in third with a score of 92,677. 

wOw.lk – Sri Lanka’s highest ranked online start-up: In Sri Lanka, wOw.lk has secured the highly coveted top spot, and is ranked as the No. 1 online start-up in the country, with an SR score of 77,347. AutoLanka.com ranks second with a score of 72,448 and MyDeal.lk, ranks third with an SR score of 72,056. Other local start-ups that are gradually making their way up the rankings include Yamu, Revox.io, IdeaBeam, ReadMe.lk and Trekurious. 

How the SR Web score is determined: The scoring system used by Start-up Ranking is determined by various factors. The SR Web score is a number between 0 and 100,000 and shows how important a start-up is online. This is derived by evaluating the number of quality web pages that link to the start-up’s web page, as well as the distribution and quality of internal and external links. 

On-Page SEO factors such as the content of a page, titles, tags andthe URL details are all considered along with the total estimated visits and unique visitors that the website generates along with total page views.  

How the SR Social score and final SR score is calculated: The SR Social score is also a number between 0 and 100,000 which reflects the social influence that a start-up has by considering Facebook engagement, the total number of likes, shares, comments and online social interactions, along with Twitter engagement including number of followers, tweets and retweets. 

The SR Social and SR Web inputs are used to calculate the SR Score algorithm and results in the final number shown on the Start-up Ranking website. The final SR Score also takes the SRank into consideration, whichis used to show where a start-upranks, in comparison to other start-ups around the world; and the Regional SRank, is included to show the position of a start-up compared to other start-ups originating from the same country. In the near future, new data sources such as LinkedIn, Pinterest and Youtube will be introduced to the ranking formulation as well. 

The evolution of e-commerce in Sri Lanka: In Sri Lanka, e-commerce is rapidly being embraced by a new generation of customers who value the convenience, time and cost saving that online shopping provides. 

Many modern customers are overcoming their fear of making purchases online, and those who are hesitant about online credit card transactions, are benefitting from alternative payment methods that many start-ups have introduced, these include vouchers, a payment on delivery option and store pick-ups. Additionally, e-commerce websites in Sri Lanka are being used increasingly more by customers who want to compare product prices and find out all the information they require, prior to making a purchase. 

The way forward for e-commerce: Globally, e-commerce is one of the fastest growing industries and whilst Sri Lankan e-commerce sites are gradually catching up and embracing the latest best practices and trends, they still have a long way to go in order to fully capitalise on the full potential of e-commerce in Sri Lanka. 

The main challenge that many local e-commerce sites face is the fact that the majority of customers still avoid purchasing a product online, because they prefer to personally touch and try the product before committing to a purchase. On their journeys to build confidence and instil trust in their customers, many e-commerce start-ups are adding a sense of fun, engagement and excitement to their offering, and are continuously winning over customers who are becoming increasingly more aware of the benefitsof an online shopping experience. 

Start-up Ranking offers insightful metrics and statistics that help and rank start-ups around the world. To track rankings and to find out more about registering start-ups on the site, visit: http://www.startupranking.com.