For merchants

Whatever kind of shop you run

One system serves all of them, but a kitchen and an electronics shop are not the same problem. Here is where DERSA treats them differently.

An Ethiopian meal laid out to share

Restaurants

Cooked to order, which means the kitchen needs time before anybody should be sent to collect.

What is different: DERSA waits for your preparation time before it sends a courier, and hot food goes to a courier with an insulated box rather than whoever happens to be nearest.

A fruit and vegetable stall in Ethiopia, stacked to the roof

Grocery

Fruit, vegetables and staples, picked from shelves rather than cooked.

What is different: No preparation wait, a bigger basket, and a courier picked for what the order weighs rather than how fast it will cool.

A local shop in Addis Ababa, open to the street

Mini markets

The corner shop. Small baskets, picked in a minute, several an hour.

What is different: Built for volume rather than size of order: short hops, quick acceptance, and a list a shopkeeper can keep right from a phone.

A row of roadside shops in Addis Ababa

Retail

Electronics, home goods, stationery: anything that is not food.

What is different: The courier is matched to what the item actually is. A television is not a motorbike job, and DERSA will not pretend otherwise by sending one.

A pharmacist serving a customer at a pharmacy counter in Ethiopia

Pharmacy

Over the counter only.

What is different: DERSA does not carry prescription-only medicine, and listing an item marked as such is refused rather than quietly allowed. That needs a pharmacy licence, a pharmacist's check and EFDA rules this platform does not implement. Orders are handed to the person receiving them, not left at a gate.