Mycart.mu : New local application for e-commerce

Vishal Anand, an Indian living in Mauritius since almost five years, has come with a new idea for shopaholics in Mauritius. He has created a website, mycart.mu, where street vendors, traders or entrepreneurs can sell their products online. Thus, no need for customers to go to the shop to make their purchases. They can do it from home by a single click. Moreover, the delivery service is free of charge. 

Mycart.mu is a user-friendly website and mobile application platform targeting customers in Mauritius and Rodrigues, with the aim of facilitating shopping and helping them access all shops with just a simple click.   Vishal Anand explains that sellers will not only be able to sell their products online but will also be able to manage their online store along with its orders, inventory, product listings and more.

“Sellers can register their online store on Mycart for free and list as many products as they wish.  To do so, they will need to register on the website and fill in the necessary information.  Once we receive their registration, we will contact them for the next step and soon, they will be able to sell their products on the Mycart platform,” he says.  

As for the mycart.mu team, it will be responsible of ensuring that the seller’s store and products are promoted and gain maximum visibility.  “We will take care of the delivery for which customers will not be charged.  It must be noted that for those products which cost up to Rs 500, sellers will not have to bear any delivery charges,” he adds.  

A variety of products will be available on mycart.mu, namely clothes, shoes, accessories, bags for men, ladies, children and babies, electrical appliances, furniture, stationeries, crafts, books, etc.  

Mission and objectives

Vishal Anand says the mission of mycart.mu is to bring together all buyers and sellers in Mauritius and Rodrigues under one platform, thus allowing customers to have access to all products from any vendor, irrespective of their location. Vendors will be able to reach customers from all corners of Mauritius and Rodrigues. 

With this concept, Vishal wants to provide a platform where all businesses, whether big or small, will compete fairly. He also wants to provide customers with a wide range of choice.  “They will know from whom they are buying, they can compare prices and other details before making a purchase”, he states. 

Mycart.mu will provide a 24/7 online shopping as well, facilitating customers who are very busy during the day and so not have time to go shopping. “We will ensure prompt delivery to all customers in Mauritius and Rodrigues and make online shopping an enjoyable experience by eliminating common insecurities that customers and vendors face”, he adds. 

Beside, the mycart.mu team is organizing an introductory event for sellers in Mauritius on the 18th of February 2017 at Greenwich University in Ebene as from 9 a.m.  Sellers around the island are invited to attend this informative event so that they can discover all the various features of Mycart and how it will help them grow their business.  

Promoting street vendors

Vishal and his team mates were in website development. He explains that some of their clients were no longer renewing their websites because they were not getting sales and also there was cost to maintain. 

“It was very sad to close down all those websites but we understood our clients’ concerns. One day, while walking down in a street, we met a talented handicraft seller who was selling crafts. I talked to the seller and learned that the latter could not afford to rent a place to open a shop and hence, he had to sell his items on the street. After that, we also met with SMEs, women entrepreneurs, importers of goods and other shop owners. We understood that they were facing the same difficulties like finding a shop at an affordable rate, attract potential clients from other regions and advertise their products.  From that moment, an idea sparked in my mind and www.mycart.mu was born. With a lot of patience and hard work, we started developing the platform”, he states.

Vishal highlights that one of the major challenges, however, was to find an investor who could provide for the funds required to operate Mycart. “It took a few weeks before finally meeting an investor who had faith in the project and was willing to put in the necessary funds to get started.  From that moment, things changed,” he says. Vishal and Sonya, with their new partner, started this adventurous journey. Along, with the online platform, a mobile application was also developed in order to facilitate online shopping for mobile phone users.  After months of hard work, Mycart is finally ready. Sellers are being added to the platform. Soon, it will be operational and Mauritian people can start their shopping online.