Small Business in focus…

Agorua.com – The local online shopping service

DPI, Guyana, Friday, August 24, 2018

In May 2017, Yonnick and Delissa Pratt established Agorua International Guyana, an online business to provide a safe and convenient shopping experience while boosting the local products.

Delissa related to the Department of Public Information (DPI) that apart from making shopping easier, the site aims to promote local businesses. “We are not shopping from Amazon or Walmart; while we do have the capacity, our goal is to boost our local economy. We want persons to purchase what is already here in Guyana and have it delivered to them.”

Co-owner, Yonnick explained that “other businesses that have locally stocked items, they can sign up with us for free and have their products uploaded onto our website. There is no catch to the sign-up process and it is very simple.”

Agorua offers a wide range of quality electronic products and its newest collection of furniture items from Eco-solutions. It hopes to expand its services as more local businesses sign on with the company.

Being Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certified, the Pratts are assuring the public of the safety of its website. They explained that Agorua only utilises electronic payment systems such as debit and credit cards and PayPal accounts. The business is also supported by a 30-day return policy.

“We are safe, we are secure, you are going to get exactly what you have purchased and it is going to be in the best quality,” Delissa said as she boasted of a recent success of the business. “We delivered to Qatar which was very exciting for us during the World Cup. We were the only company that had Brazil Beats headsets. And someone from Qatar contacted us and said they could not find it anywhere in the world. Can you get it to us and we delivered to them within a five days period? So, imagine if we can do that within five days, we can definitely do it shorter in Guyana.”

The Pratts are encouraging local businesses to sign on with their service to market their products and encouraging consumers to shift to the digital means of online shopping.

“For the expat market; this is what it has to be. Because they are not going to go out and search six stores to find what they are looking for. They want to go to one central place where they can find it, purchase it and have it delivered to them as soon as possible.”

Currently, Agorua International offers services to Regions Three, Four, Five and Ten.

Crystal Stoll

Image: Kawise Wishart