In a situation where consumers are less and less willing to spend their time on the move, and where they value the convenience businesses provide when shopping, digital supermarkets are beginning to gain market in the region.
New companies that have emerged as supermarkets that do not have physical sales areas and are operated entirely online have found acceptance in some Central American countries.
Since July 2019, Supex is a digital supermarket that serves consumers in the eastern part of the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) of San Jose, Costa Rica.
Yuliana Sanchez, founder of Supex, told Elfinancierocr.com that “… the main thing they offer consumers is the ability to save time. In a study we conducted, we concluded that a person could consume at least one hour to go to the supermarket.”
Sánchez added that “… A week can add up to ten hours between the week’s shopping and other occasions when you must go through some forgotten or additional product. What we provide is time, which can be used in other things.”
“The entrepreneur explained that the idea of the online supermarket was born when she had to go shopping for groceries under a downpour and with his one-month-old baby. The rest was waiting for the right moment,” said Sánchez.
It was 2012 when Sánchez had the idea before Uber and Netflix generated trust in consumers for online purchases. Three years later, she says she focused on the administration thesis – with an emphasis on finance – at the Universidad Hispanoamericana in analyzing the viability of her project.
Three years later, she focused on the administration thesis – with an emphasis on finance – at the Universidad Hispanoamericana in analyzing the viability of the project.
Since February 2019, Superunico has been operating in Panama, a supermarket that does not have a physical sales floor, but rather an online platform that serves in a showcase that is accessed through a mobile or desktop digital device.
Jacobo Montvelisky, CEO of Superunico, explained to Martesfinanciero.com that “… they have a warehouse in which they manage the inventory and the idea is that as they grow, they add warehouses of strategic areas to attend the orders and dispatch them wherever the user wants, even that they pick them up if it is the desire of the client.”
Montvelisky added that “… Our goal is to facilitate the shopping trip of the user who on average takes 1 to 2 hours in their work of purchase in a physical supermarket, and we want to give them a service that will only take five minutes, so that the rest of the time are dedicated to other tasks, while their purchase is delivered the same day.”
