Will Canadian startup be the next great tech disrupter?

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Some of the greatest business ideas start with trying to solve a simple problem. That’s what Alok Ahuja was trying to do when he came up with the idea for his new company Trexity.

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Now he’s offering Main Street retail shops the ability to compete with Amazon for online sales by offering same-day or next-day deliveries.

“I wanted to level the playing field between small and medium-sized local businesses and the behemoth that is Amazon,” Ahuja said.

The former Shopify executive is slowly growing the company across Canada. He has merchants signed up in Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, Hamilton and Winnipeg with more on the way.

As he was looking to see if there was a need for a new platform for small local shops, Ahuja didn’t just speak to store owners. He spent hours talking to couriers working on platforms such as Uber, Lift, DoorDash and Instacart to find out what they liked and didn’t like about those systems.

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“They’re the backbone of the company,” he said.

One regular complaint he heard repeatedly was that drivers didn’t want to go across town for one small delivery. In that moment, he realized his platform could solve problems for both store owners and drivers.

“Let’s build something that allows bundling, that allows couriers to deliver more then drive less,” Ahuja said. “I wanted to provide them with more value.”

Lisa Miyasaki opened Kol Kid, a boutique shop specializing in kids clothing, toys, room decor and more on Toronto’s Queen St. W. 25 years ago. She’s seen the change in retail over the last 2 1/2 decades and says a delivery option has helped her business grow.

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“You can see from our Google reviews that customers are surprised at how convenient and fast the delivery is from Kol Kid and will often become repeat customers knowing that they will receive goods in a timely manner,” she said.

While Miyasaki says her product line is unique and often not found on Amazon, she knows she’s up against the comfort and ease of shopping at home.

“If we can provide same-day/next-day service, we can compete with Amazon,” she said.

Patti Taggart, owner of Ottawa’s Tag Along Toys, says the service has increased her sales and stopped her from going out at night to make deliveries herself. She adds that customers also love the service.

“Customers are often shocked how quick they get their orders. I think using Trexity keeps us super competitive with this same-day or with a few-hour delivery service,” Taggart said.

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At a time when the phrase “buy local or say bye, local” really means something, the ability for local merchants to sell goods quickly and for consumers to be able to buy locally even when online could be a game-changer in keeping local shops alive.

Uber had a Canadian connection in founder Garrett Camp of Calgary looking for a solution to bad taxi service. Shopify started in Ottawa by frustrated snowboarders looking for a way to sell snowboarding gear online.

Trexity has the potential to be that kind of industry game-changer for small retail businesses.

Right now, they are running a contest for registered merchants that could see a shop owner win $100,000 cash for sales before Aug. 15. Ahuja said he decided to put his marketing budget into the contest after speaking with small store owners about what a windfall would mean.

“It’s incredible to hear what some merchants say when asked what they would do with an extra $100,000,” Ahuja said.

“Everybody is so creative but the underlying theme is expansion. Imagine what that could mean for our country if small business could do that.”

The tech world tends to reward the disrupters, the ones who see things differently and offer a solution. With Trexity, Ahuja may have found the next game-changing platform.

I’ll toast to that with the new barware I had delivered last week using one of his merchants and one of his couriers.

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