Considered a new frontier in e-commerce worldwide, the online retail of fresh food begins to gain weight in Brazil. Large supermarket chains are preparing to expand online sales in the country, while new companies develop differentiated services in the category.
Ebit estimates that online sales of fresh food do not account for 0.5% of the total e-commerce business, which means sales of approximately R $ 240 million in 2017. “The online fresh food market is still in its infancy. Brazil, but has the potential for rapid expansion, “said Pedro Guasti, President of Ebit.
According to executive, in 2017, the category grew 41%, while electronic commerce as a whole grew 10%. The main online competitors are GPA (Grupo Pão de Açúcar), Sonda, Zona Sul Supermercados and Mambo.
GPA is the oldest in the area, operating in the area since the late 1990s. Rodrigo Pimentel, GPA’s Director of Electronic Food Commerce, does not report the revenue generated by the category, but says that sales grow double digit per year. At the end of 2016, the company set up a distribution center in São Paulo to focus stocks of online sales. “The opening of this center has greatly improved delivery capabilities for customers,” said Pimentel.
In 2017, Pão de Açúcar refined the online service, implementing the option of delivery in up to four hours and the option to withdraw in the store. Before delivery was done in 24 hours. Pimentel said other categories, such as drinks and personal care products, have more representative sales, but online sales of fresh food are among the fastest growing. The online service of Grupo Pão de Açúcar operates in seven states (Paraná, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Goiás, Ceará, Bahia and Pernambuco) and the Federal District. The goal for 2018 is to serve all states where the company has a supermarket chain.
Mambo Delivery also grows rapidly, according to Lucas Nassar, Vice President of the MGB Group. The group started selling fresh food online in February 2015 by Mambo Delivery. “The work began to be done in São Paulo without marketing. Today, fresh food accounts for 35% of our online sales, led by fruits and vegetables, which represent 8% of the total, “said Nassar. In physical stores, compared, perishable foods represent 60% of Mambo sales.
The Mambo Delivery service was extended to the metropolitan region of São Paulo in 2017. Nassar said that food was separated into supermarkets, but there was a shortage due to the rapid growth of online sales. The company decided to invest in the construction of a 10 thousand square meter unit in Carapicuíba (SP), to concentrate the stock of online orders. The distribution center began operating this month. Grupo MGB, controller of Giga Atacado, Mambo Supermarkets, Petit Mambo and Mambo Delivery, operates in São Paulo with 16 stores.
Carrefour also launched, in October 2017, the electronic commerce of foods. Chilean Cencosud, owner of GBarbosa, said that “it does not intend to work with e-commerce in the near future”.
In addition to the supermarket chains, novice companies venture into this market. An example is Pede Sabores. Founded in May 2017 with an investment of R $ 1 million, Pede Sabores offers an online service of fresh food delivery. Food is purchased at Ceagesp and delivery is made by four carriers. Deliveries are made in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. In January, delivery was extended to the north coast of São Paulo, Granja Viana and ABC Paulista.
“Every month sales grow 60%. Our clients indicate other clients, “says Maurício Costa, Managing Partner of Pede Sabores. It expects to close 2018 with an average of one thousand requests per day. The current average is 130 requests per day.
Supermarket Now, founded in 2015 by Marco Zolet, is another example. The business is similar to that of the American company Instacart: the company has an online platform in which consumers order food. The purchase in the supermarkets and the delivery are made by registered delivery service. Now Supermarket has 5 thousand customers in São Paulo and ABC Paulista. Currently, seven grocery chains are contracted with Supermarket Now and 80 logistic operators do the delivery work. Marco Zolet, President of Supermarket Now, said that revenue grew in 2017, reaching R $ 5.5 million. The forecast for 2018 is to earn R $ 30 million. In December, the company received a contribution of R $ 3.3 million from a group of angel investors to accelerate the company’s expansion.