Supermarkets are preparing to enter the e-commerce

Of the 20 supermarket chains that grew back, 11 already conduct online sales; until 2023, the sector will be billing R $48.65 billion just on e-commerce.

The supermarket segment has one of the most expressive invoicing of Brazil. Even so, your representation in online sales is still low in comparison with other retail sectors. According to a ranking published by the Brazilian Association of Supermarkets (OPEN), only 6% of the largest networks in the country have e-commerce platforms.

Nevertheless, it is possible to observe a trend of evolution of virtual trade in the sector. Of the 20 supermarket chains that grew back, 11 already conduct online sales, i.e. 55%. According to data from Brazil Supermarkets Online (BSO), until 2023, the supermarket sector will be billing R $48.65 billion just on e-commerce.

According to Rafael Strong, Country Manager of the brazilian company of cloud commerce, VTEX, to structure a digital channel, the supermarket chains need to adopt three strategies. "Marketing management, to bring the flow channels, commercial management, to convert visits into purchases, and operational management, to ensure a proper functioning of processes, mainly in logistics and delivery, which are among the biggest challenges to the success of a supermarket online. ", explains.

To generate stream in digital channels, companies can make content marketing or investing in SEO. "With the content marketing Shop is positioned as a specialist subject to create a relationship of trust with the consumer," says Strong. "Already the SEO, will ensure that the company is well positioned in the search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo," she adds.

A good commercial management must gather settings on the points of contact with the client (webstore, totems in physical stores, call centers, drive-thru, mobile applications etc) and presentation of the products on the site. "Within a strategy omnichannel, supermarkets can stay in touch with your customers through several different channels. Primary care must be to offer details of the products and present them in categories that are intuitive for consumers ", believes the Country Manager of the VTEX.

In addition, it is also the commercial management set payment terms, such as minimum value of purchases for delivery, delivery fees and conditions of payment.

There are several possible strategies to make the shopping experience more rewarding for the consumer. "Enabling people to create personalized shopping lists to make the repurchase more responsive, put in the cart all items from a recipe in one click, set the desired amount of pesáveis items, allow different forms of delivery of the request, including the withdrawn in store, repeat application with one click, are some of the features online supermarkets may have to offer a better experience to their customers, "details Rafael Strong.

The operational management of supermarkets has some peculiarities. It is common that they already have contracts with companies acquiring calls to communicate with the flags of credit card. "Different from physical buying, in which the cardholder is going in person to the establishment, the online environment is dependent on the security of the systems involved in the digital, and is relevant to use of anti-fraud solutions", recommends Strong.

Some supermarkets use stock of products of the own shop and others have unique storage centres to meet the demand of e-commerce. "The decision by the path to be chosen will depend, above all, the volume of the operation," says Strong. "Without doubt, at the beginning the path is to use a physical store," she adds.

In addition, the form of receipt of the product by the customer is not always through the delivery directly in the residence. Some supermarkets provide the purchase online with in-store pickup physics, others allow the drive-thru (when request and withdrawal are performed without the need to enter the establishment), as well as self-service kiosks, or withdrawal in strategic places along the route of the client.

Finally, of fundamental importance, it is necessary to structure a SAC (Customer Service). "It is he who reveals the whole flow of purchase is being done correctly. Suggestions from customers are valuable to adjust every operation, "concludes Strong.

In Brazil, the traditional supermarket chain Mambo, decided to adopt a digital branch. To meet a new consumer profile, which expects more agility, convenience and practicality, the brand has invested in fast delivery, mostly fresh food, through the website and through a shopping application on your phone. "We believe in the future of consumomóvel and today any smartphone can turn into a Mambo shop" celebrates André Nassar, Vice President of MGB.

To gain new customers, fluminense SuperPrix supermarket network also invested in e-commerce. The company created a shopping list system, which allows the user to add all products to cart with just one click. Thus, increased the average ticket in 15% and amounted to 35% conversion rate. "With the new platform customers have access to the SuperPrix anywhere, including in the Palm of your hand, and this will allow the habit of leaving the House facing traffic and queue is replaced by buying on mobile is made in a few minutes" says Rafael Guerra, Manager of e-commerce's uperPrix.

So how are customers SuperPrix Mambo VTEX. The brazilian company offers cloud platforms for e-commerce of supermarkets, with advanced technologies that can integrate the physical inventory with online and retail chain distribution system, optimizing the delivery time of products and improving the experience of consumer purchase. Other supermarkets, as Samir, Muffato and Giga in Brazil, Walmart in Argentina, Wong, Plaza Vea in Peru also administer your e-commerce with VTEX platform.



About VTEX
The VTEX is the real Cloud Commerce ™ Platform in the digital retail market with automatic scale elastic and cloud infrastructure that increases conversion rates, decrease operating costs and generates customer loyalty with consumers. Using your exclusive patented Smartcheckout ™, a secure and intuitive tool without obligation of creating password during the process, the VTEX is the best option for the digital retail. Companies that use VTEX observe on average 54% conversion increase and significant reduction in abandonment of shopping carts. VTEX platform is used by over 2,000 stores in 20 countries and has global corporate clients like Sony, Disney, Walmart, Danone, Whirlpool, Coca-Cola, Lancôme, AVON and LEGO. VTEX is a company present at Gartner Magic Quadrant report Digital trade 2017. VTEX is an end-to-end platform, fully adaptable, omnichannel that keeps the pace at the same pace of the evolution of the customers ' expectations.
Visit http://www.vtex.com/pt. meet our blog to learn more how to increase your sales. Follow us also on Twitter @VTEXTrueCloud.