The outbreak of COVID-19 and the lockdown created a new normal for people in Sri Lanka. Unable to step out of their homes, they had to resort to transacting online for all their needs. Many companies with a minimal online presence struggled to meet the demands of the new reality. However, WEBXPAY, an exclusively e-commerce and payment gateway company, quickly leveraged its first-mover advantage to infuse convenience and peace of mind amongst its clients, expanding its services to offer comprehensive and easy-to-use ecommerce solutions. This not only invited interest from existing and new customers but also from inactive customers as businesses both large, medium or small tried to cope with the new normal.

Understanding the quandary that brick and mortar businesses faced in the time of the lockdown, WEBXPAY supported customers reach their entrepreneurial goal by helping them take their business online and receive payments without a hassle. As a result, the company was able to advise even inactive merchants to use the payment gateway as a business opportunity during the pandemic to sustain their business. 

Further responding to the crisis, the WEBXPAY team worked round the clock to support merchants at a time when banks were not functioning fully. For example, Nills Store’s clients were requesting for a cashless option during the period, so the store turned to WEBXPAY for help, which supported them to make sales through the online platforms. The online promotions on social media delivered better engagement, and more inquires as a new payment link on social media made it convenient for customers of Nills Store to purchase products then and there. This new payment gateway option implemented by WEBXPAY helped the store overcome the challenge and they managed to sustain their business without a decline in sales. In fact, they experienced a 30% increase in online sales after the pandemic. 

Interestingly, WEBXPAY’s services also encouraged new customer segments such as tutors, gas distributors and small grocery shop owners to trust the company and go online for the very first time, thereby preserving their livelihoods during the difficult time. Since most of these small businesses didn’t have a website accepting online payments, invoicing (Xdirect) and payment links (Xsell) were extremely helpful for them to grow their online business. A key testimonial to WEBXPAY’s services is the fact that the company has witnessed a growth of 200% in terms of merchant transactions and new businesses during this period. The company is proud of the fact that their digital interventions have empowered many businesses to enter new revenue streams. 

GSF Fish Shop, a new customer of WEBXPAY, entered the retail market with its new online fish shop. With supermarkets closed and local demand surging, they opened up to the domestic retail market with WEBXPAY as their online payment processor. As a result of WEBXPAY’s support, GSF Fish Shop was able to deliver seafood in Colombo and surrounding areas during the curfew while adhering to mandatory health precautions such as contactless delivery, cashless and hygiene process of packaging and delivery, etc. How WEBXPAY helped them was to onboard them speedily via a hassle-free process while setting up their payment gateway facility for cashless delivery. As a result, the customer was able to see a growth in local sales and serviced over 1000 customers over two months. 

Apart from helping smaller businesses, WEBXPAY also facilitated its larger base of merchants in the travel and entertainment segment. The business process of our client Mack Air (Pvt) Ltd was changed completely into digital from the traditional business process. As a result, consultations were done through video calls and online payments were conducted, making Mack Air the first General Sales Agent to leverage on an online platform in the industry. Their future plans are to continue the business process through digital platforms and move away from the traditional process. WEBXPAY’s payment gateway on the Mack Air website made it convenient for people who were booking from different countries to make their future bookings or to reschedule existing bookings.

Buoyed by the demand for its services during this crisis but mindful of the enormous benefits it can provide to people and to the economy by ensuring businesses keep running, WEBXPAY remains focused on enhancing its digital transformation journey. WEBXPAY is a success story of Sri Lankan tenacity, climbing up from 100 customers in the first three months to 1500 customers by 3 years. Starting as a small group of developers, today it employs 30 people from tech leads to marketing to finance. The company also offers the most number of payment options compared to others in the same space and are the biggest SaaS-based company in Sri Lanka for SMEs. WEBXPAY’s clients range from small-scale merchants to large businesses to which it offers multiple solutions to fit the size and requirements of their businesses via self-service, personalized service or scheduled client site visits. The WEBXPAY team remains supportive and accessible 24 hours and is reaching out to client businesses needing support by extending suspensions of subscriptions while engaging with clients to see how we could help to develop them. It has already received over 600 applications for the facility and their validity is being evaluated. WEBXPAY is playing a key role in empowering and enabling today’s merchants to propel their businesses on a bigger digital scale thereby driving e-commerce in Sri Lanka.