Thursday 24 October 2019

Splitcha - making online shopping abroad easy


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The saying the ‘world is your oyster’ is very apt for our modern world as we can achieve anything we want to. In particular, if we want the whole world is ours to see and experience. Travelling the globe or venturing abroad to settle down is now the norm with the world a multicultural melting pot of people from all warps of life.

As travelling the world is now so easy it is common place that most people have to keep in touch with loved ones from across the ocean. Whether it is keeping in touch with loved ones who are travelling different countries or those who have emigrated to a new country, there can be many miles, countries and oceans separating us from friends and family.

I have family who emigrated to America, an aunt who spends half of the year in sunny Spain, a close friend who is currently backpacking across Australia and a number of friends I consider family who I met online but have not met in real life as they live many miles away in all corners of the world.

Apart from missing loved ones - but thankfully we have an abundance of technology to help us keep in touch - one of the downsides of having friends and family spread across the world is the hassle and cost of sending gifts. It is shocking how much custom fees and delivery abroad costs!

As we live in such a technologically advanced, modern world with the world wide web at our fingertips you’d think shopping online to send items abroad would be a breeze but that’s far from the truth. In fact the problem of online shopping abroad is not just limited to sending gifts to loved ones who live in a different country to you. 

Have you ever tried sending stuff abroad for the kids to a villa ahead of a family holiday? Or when you have emigrated have you tried getting favourite items sent from your home country to your new home abroad? It can be a total nightmare! From shipping costs to language problems to payment issues to long shipping delays and potential cross border charges, it can be so costly or difficult that you don’t want to bother at all.

Not only can sending items from one country to another be headache inducing and costly but it can also have a negative impact on our environment due to sending products via air freight.

Splitcha
Thankfully there is an innovative solution to the problem of shopping online abroad - Splitcha!


Splitcha is an inventive app where users have one account that provides them with the ability to shop online across any country as if they were a local. 

How Splitcha began
After negative personal experience of trying to send presents to friends around the world, difficulty attempting to buy items and services online abroad when travelling the world as a tech CEO and having to deal with taking necessary children’s items in luggage when going abroad on holiday but wishing they could be ordered online to arrive at the villa on arrival, Anthony Rushton decided to set about trying to fix the problem of shopping online when abroad. 

In September 2018 Anthony set out to make shopping online abroad easy and created the UK based company Splitcha which is due to launch on the 12th November 2019.

After realising that many people are engaged in ‘gig economy’ roles such as Ebay and Etsy, Anthony determined that if the could connect people who require items in country X with people in country X with the necessary online accounts to help out then he could connect the entire online shopping community together in a 'hive mind' and resolve the difficulty of shopping online abroad. Humans helping humans, for a small commission. 

With that notion in mind he created a business plan, raised seed investment and after development of Splitcha he secured partnership with PayPal to provide safe and secure payments and ordering for Splitcha members. 

Splitcha is making the whole process very 
simple and universal. One account, one app, 
one world for you to shop in, as if you are a local.” 
- Anthony Rushton founder of Splitcha -

How Splitcha works
In the app you type in what you need, where you need it and your max budget per item which gets posted to the network of Splitcha shoppers. They will source your products and arrange delivery using their local online accounts. The total cost of the items plus the commissions appear so there are no hidden charges and you know exactly how much it will cost you.


Benefits of Splitcha
Helping make shopping online abroad easier, Splitcha provides many benefits to both buyers and sellers.

The benefits to buyers include
* Speed - items should arrive next day or as quick as the local retailer can arrange
* Cost - airfreight and shipping costs are massively reduced as products are sourced locally
* Environment - exporting desire instead of products means no air freight
* Convenience - one app, one account, one centralised point of ordering the world over
* Security - payments are handled by PayPal, the largest e-wallet service on the plant
* Community - buyers will have an army of willing helpers across the globe no matter what their needs

The benefits to sellers include
* Income - a genuine and unique gig economy role that requires nothing more than a smart phone and online shopping accounts
* Environment - exporting desire instead of products means no air freight
* Security - payments are handled by PayPal, the largest e-wallet service on the plant
* Community - sellers will be able to grow a list of regular clients with whom they help on a regular basis
* Satisfaction - sellers will help a myriad of people from overseas with their immediate requirements

Who will Splitcha help?
Designed to help overseas students, expats, military personnel abroad, holidaymakers, business travellers, gift givers, mums & dads and anyone that wants to have products arrive in a destination other than where they reside, Splitcha enables people to be able to buy whatever they want, wherever they are and have it arrive wherever they require it without any drama.

Primary usages include -
* Sending gifts abroad
* Sending care packages abroad
* Sending baby essentials to a holiday destination
* Getting stuff abroad when on holiday
* Getting stuff abroad when on business trips
* Getting stuff for international events
* Bargain hunting globally, as items can be locally sourced

Splitcha’s green mission
Whilst Splitcha was created to help make shopping online abroad simple and easy, Splitcha are passionate about helping the environment and have an overriding green mission to eradicate the airfreighting of personal products.

The pertinent side effect of course is that we are eradicating the need for air cargo or cross border shipping which is better for the environment. Last year there were 5 billion cross border e-commerce click-to-door air cargo shipments alone.”
- Anthony Rushton founder of Splitcha -


Make the world your oyster and enjoy online shopping abroad easier thanks to the revolutionary app Splitcha.

Whether you want to use the app to buy products or become one of their registered sellers when they launch on the 12th November, pre-register your interest in Splitcha here.

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3 comments:

  1. This is super helpful - I'm hoping to do a lot of travelling in the near future so this will definitely come in handy then. I'll be bookmarking this post x

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  2. This sounds like such a fantastic app! With a sister in law abroad, this could come in very handy

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  3. This sounds like such a useful app to have. I like the take on less air cargo. How very clever to come up with such an idea, when really it is common sense. Brilliant.

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