BOX-UP, the personal shopping service, offering services to clients wishing to purchase groceries, clothing and various household essentials from any store in Australia celebrates its first anniversary this month with its 1000^th customer, Mel Wijeguneratne.

Based in Melbourne, BOX-UP was founded by two professionals, Poorni Fonseka and Vanessa Stevenson with the scope of creating a portal for Sri-Lankan residents to purchase affordable, quality products from Australia for themselves and their families independently.

BOX-UP is an online portal offering individuals and families a method of purchasing quality groceries, baby products, chocolates, beauty brands, vitamins and a wide variety of organic and sugar-free health food. It also offers personal shopping services for clothing, toys, electronics, designer brands and more from any store in Australia.

Using Box-up is simple. Customers can simply tell the boxers what they are looking for via the enquiry form on their site www.boxup.lk and your personal shopper will source, quote, shop and organise delivery to Sri-Lanka by sea or airfreight. Sea freight is available from a set fee of $25 for up to 30kg of product and takes approximately six weeks to arrive in Sri-Lanka. Air-freight and express shipping are available on request and rates vary according to shipping location and weight of product.

“BOX-UP was in the making for around twelve months. We knew that there was interest from people in Sri-Lanka wanting a service of personal shopping from Australia. However since it had not been done before, we had to brainstorm ways to make BOX-UP accessible, safe and easy for most people. With accessibility, we are currently working on how the online only store can operate to assist customers who are not confident with credit card payments or might not be internet savvy. The main challenge with online stores is trust from customers, which is why a PCI Level 1 approved system called Stripe is relied upon process credit card payments. This is the most stringent program available at the moment”, echoed the founders Poorni Fonseka and Vanessa Stevenson.

“BOX-UP received its first order on the same night the site launched. The news about the store spread very quickly after it was featured in the Sri Lankan print media too. BOX-UP has rapidly grown over the last one year 2 months and we’re happy to say that most of the purchases are made by regular customers which brings us a sense of pride”, the duo added.

“My experience with Box-Up was a totally satisfying one. The entire concept is just awesome! From the easy-to-order online product list to the reasonable prices and the prompt delivery, everything was handled very professionally and flawlessly. I am one happy customer who will be returning again and again”, says a regular customer Anne-Marie Kellar.

In celebration of this milestone and after much demand from their customers, this innovative duo Vanessa and Poorni are currently in Colombo to meet and greet their regulars. This is the perfect opportunity for customers to meet the girls behind the brand and try the Australian products first hand.

To mark its first year celebration, BOX-UP also announced its one-day pop-up shop,at The Sooriya Village, 49,Skelton Road, Colombo 4 on Saturday 22 April 2017 from 10 am – 3 pm, showcasing their best sellers to the public. The products include a wide range of chocolates, goods for Mum and baby, juices, beauty products, sugar-free food, cheese and more, alongside special offers and a chance to win prizes.

Photo caption: (Above) Poorni Fonseka (left) and Vanessa Stevenson