Lokii
Shop Local. Delivered Today.
For over 4 years we designed and built Lokii, a local shopping marketplace for small businesses. Over the pandemic, we generated almost $100k in sales for local small businesses — proving that community commerce can compete with the convenience of big-box online retail.
The Problem
For Shoppers
People wanted to support local businesses but lacked the time to visit individual stores. High shipping fees and long wait times from shop websites made online ordering impractical.
For Local Shops
Small retailers struggled with saturated marketing platforms and had no efficient way to reach local customers online — the very people most likely to become regulars.
Design & Product
The Solution
Same-Day Local Delivery
Afternoon batch deliveries proved most efficient — unlike food delivery, customers didn't need instant fulfillment.
Multi-Store Checkout
One cart, multiple local shops. No more juggling individual store websites and separate shipping fees.
Gift Sending
Send gifts from local shops to friends and family — supporting the community while making gifting personal.
Research & Testing
Early quantitative data showed low cohort retention and declining monthly active users. Qualitative feedback revealed the pain points: customers complained about $10+ shipping fees and 5+ day wait times from stores just minutes away.
Initial delivery testing used manual processes — Square for payments, Google Maps for routes, and hands-on deliveries for direct customer research. This scrappy approach uncovered the key insight that drove the pivot to same-day batch delivery.
In the Community
Press
Featured on CBS6 Virginia This Morning, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Richmond Inno / Business Journal.