Dhurata.com is a startup that involves itself in the emotions of its customers and is close to them in the important moments of their lives.
The venture was started in 2006 by Lirian Ostrovica, who lives in Canada. Although educated in Mechanical Engineering, ever since the beginning of his work he was dedicated to the computerization of design processes. Given the fact that this profession didn't allow much career development in Albania at that time, in 1995, with the help of two foreign investors, he built a production line of dough products, which they distributed for sale in the minimarkets of Tirana and the districts of Albania. For the nostalgic ones who remember it, it was called "Pizza Passion".
Mr. Ostrovica recounts: "In 1999 I moved to Canada and the beginnings of the Internet enabled me to manage work remotely."
Later, in 2001, he started to teach Webmaster Programming at a college in Toronto, where he practically taught students to build e-commerce websites. This sparked the idea of Dhurata.com.
"At the time, when a boyfriend in Albania had a birthday, some people went so far as to go directly to the airport and look for an Albanian who was flying to Albania. They begged him to take that small gift package and the recipient of the gift would wait for them in Rinas," said the Albanian entrepreneur.
He recalls that in the early 2000s online shopping was a nascent phenomenon and there was a lot of skepticism, especially about gift services. Albanian emigration was young and economically unstable. Finding business partners in Albania, such as flower shops, confectioneries, etc., was difficult because there were very few and the quality wasn't pleasant.
"These difficulties faded with time, the only one that remained was finding partners that met our high requirements/standards for the correctness of service and quality of products. We always stick to the principle: If you can not offer a high-quality service, don't offer at all.", says Ostrovica. He also emphasizes that the difficulties have been alleviated by the satisfaction that the team has received from tens of thousands of acknowledgments. For him, investing in Albania was a natural decision, but, at the same time, as an Albanian, he always felt the responsibility and satisfaction to contribute as much as he could to the development of his country of birth.
"During these years, over 50 Albanian entities have received our service and about 10 people have been employed at Dhurata.com for many years in a row".
The philosophy of Gifts according to him is:
- To carry out orders as if we were preparing them for ourselves
- To be 100% transparent with customers, regarding prices, promised services, etc.
- To be tolerant and patient in solving any problem in the most satisfactory way for customers
- Treating staff as family
This philosophy has been their strong point, which has helped them stay above the competition of any kind, for 17 years in a row.
"Customers trust us with important moments in their lives, so each order is a challenge in itself. We make sure everything goes according to the client's instructions, taking care of the smallest details that often make great sense."
When in doubt the staff takes extraordinary care until a satisfactory solution is found for the client.
”This has also been confirmed by the 5-star impressions of thousands of clients over the years, event countries abroad such as Italy, Germany, France, America, Canada, etc. In Albania, we have a network of partner businesses stabilized over time, which provide a variety of services, ranging from the most basic such as flowers, cakes, baskets, wine, and balloons, to spa services, payment for a lunch/dinner, or donation of a helicopter tour."
Only flower bouquets are served outside Albania. Dhurata aims to multiply its services.
"During these past years, our clients have been mainly immigrants. Finally, we are aiming to offer the order service in the domestic market as well, because this market is becoming more and more familiar with online shopping ", says Xhekli.
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