Paper Mambo Supermarket - VTEX Case Study - Mambo's Grocery Online Store Case Study

1. Case Study
The grocery’s virtual store has been designed with
advanced technology in order to deliver food and
groceries as quickly as possible. Consumers can
shop from anywhere via internet.
Mambo innovates in e-commerce
The solution – Mambo.com e-commerce platform, provided by
VTEX, was conceived to deliver orders quickly. This technology is based
on the omnichannel concept, which was designed to offer consumers an
enhanced experience with easy access through their smartphones.
Main goals – To provide a wide selection of products (over
10,000 items) and quick deliveries of groceries and deep-frozen food,
Mambo.com is fully integrated with the offline sector of the company (brick
and mortar stores and distribution centers), which contributes for fast and
effective data sharing.
“We were very
attentive to details in
order to provide
the best service to
our consumers.
All products are sorted
according to their
categories, packaged
and transported
with all care”.
André Nassar, Business Director of
Mambo Giga Brazil (MGB), a group
that controls Mambo Supermarkets and
Giga Wholesale networks:
Mambo Supermarket network, established
33 years ago in São Paulo, opened
an online business in order to keep up with
new market trends and a new consumer
profile. Consumers these days are looking
for a convenient and effective service and
a healthier life style, as well. Mambo.com
virtual store, looking forward to becoming one
of the best online grocery retailer in Brazil,
stands out for being able to deliver food and
groceries on time and for making sure to
maintain the same quality of the products
found in all of the six brick and mortar Mambo
stores in SP and in the Express franchising
model store in Barueri (SP), as well.
Based on a VTEX e-commerce platform,
Mambo online store is one of the most
advanced in terms of technology to offer
innovation to consumers and ease their daily
routine. The online store is ready from start
to interact with consumers through social
networks and can be easily accessed through
smartphones and tablets.
Shop from anyplace
An app developed for Apple iOS and Android
System allows consumers to have easy
access to Mambo.com virtual store through a
smartphone or a tablet. “Since everyone in the
city is always on the run, we developed tools
that are not only safe but efficient as well,
thus saving time. It’s much more convenient
when you can shop for food and groceries
from anyplace anytime. For instance, while

2. Case Study: Mambo
VTEX, founded in 1999, offer the best cloud omnichannel solution and the most complete in the market to
assist businesses from various segments to go online. The leader of the segment in Latin America, with over
1000 clients, is present in 13 countries. For further information www.vtex.com.
you wait in a room for an appointment. We
invested a lot to create platforms with Mambo
quality. We intend to meet our customers’
needs and simplify their everyday lives.”,
explains André Nassar, Business Director
of Mambo Giga Brazil Group (MGB), which
controls Mambo Supermarkets and Giga
Wholesale networks.
Mr. Nassar believes that the advancement in
the mobile telephone service in Brazil will boost
the online grocery retail business. According
to the National Agency of Telecommunication
(Anatel) there are over 280 million mobile lines
active in Brazil.
A smart solution
Mambo.com virtual store was created to
deliver groceries, produce and deep frozen
food. To overcome the challenge of selling
fresh items online, the virtual store is fully
integrated with the brick and mortar stores and
therefore shares information on stock with the
distribution system of the retail chain.
According to Alexandre Soncini, vice-
president of VTEX, Mambo e-commerce
integrated operation is what really makes the
difference. “Most online retail stores today
work apart from their distribution centers,
whereas the concept of ‘fresh’ demands
quick and on-time deliveries, in short,
effective logistics is essential.” points out the
executive.
This online-offline integration makes a
wide selection of over 10,000 items available
to consumers via internet. “We paid total
attention to details in order to offer the best
service to our customers. The groceries
are separated into categories, packaged and
transported with care”, states Nassar.
“Shopping for groceries on the web on a
regular basis has already become a common
practice in other countries. We want our
clients to try our service”, adds the executive.
The retailer created campaigns with discount
coupons in order to encourage regular
customers to go shopping online, as well.
According to Soncini, Mambo’s e-commerce
is definitely one of the most state-of-the-
art in Brazil. Among other innovations, he
points out the platform structure based on the
omnichannel concept, which integrates both
online and offline channels.
Mambo.com virtual store was developed in
order to make things easier for consumers
when it comes to grocery shopping. The
online store is supported by smart tools.
Soncini explains how the search tool allows
users to browse through multiple items at
the same time and the option to “Repeat
Orders” to make shopping lists thus
speeding up the purchase process. In case
one wishes to change their shopping lists, it
can be easily done through smartphones and
tablets any time.
The site also innovates by informing
consumers about time of delivery. Soncini
believes that it is quite helpful to know in
advance when an order is getting delivered
to your doorstep, especially if you are talking
about fresh food, or even ingredients for a
special occasion that are ordered in the last
minute. Some simple things like that can really
make the difference in the daily routine of
consumers” adds VTEX VP.
“Culinary Recipes” at Mambo.com is another
special feature. After the desired menu is
selected, the ingredients necessary for the
recipe will go straight into the buyer’s shopping
cart. You can get information on how many
people can be served, cost per person, time of
preparation and even nutritional facts, such as
lactose or gluten free options. What’s more,
users can contribute, comment and share
information on recipes via social networks.
User Experience
“Our proposal is to offer our consumers such
a pleasant shopping experience that they
really feel like shopping back at Mambo.com”,
said Maria Ercília Galvão Bueno, partner of
Try Digital Agency, who was in charge of the
project design. She did in-depth research on
virtual groceries in the UK, the US and Brazil to
offer the most convenient service. A closer look
was taken at Amazon Fresh site, considered
one of the most advanced online grocery retail
business nowadays.
“A benchmarked study was conducted in
order to develop a structure which could show
that online grocery shopping can be as good
as shopping in person is. We talked to the
architect responsible for the aisle division of
Mambo stores. The opinions of the consumers
were taken into account as well. Our goal is to
represent both the quality and variety offered
by Mambo stores”- states Maria Ercília.
The presentation of the products endorsed
with high-quality pictures and detailed
descriptions are some of the results of such
hard work. A special treatment was devoted to
the image so that the texture and freshness of
produce, fruit and meat were captured. “We
focused on the concept of fresh. It’s a project
that has soul and coherence”, points out the
expert in digital architecture of online retail.
“Mambo.com is a vanguard project, due to
the technological innovation and the valuable
solution of on-time deliveries of groceries it
offers.” sums up Ricardo Michelazzo, CEO
of GS & Ecomm (e-commerce consultancy)
and responsible for the content management
and operation set-up. He adds that Brazilians
spend a lot of money on food and the idea
of making on-time deliveries of produce and
fruit for instance is definitely a great business
opportunity.
A Business Opportunity
According to Andre Nassar, director of Mambo
Giga Brazil Group (MGB), even though
online food retail sales still represent a small
percentage of the total online retail sales, he
believes that the food retail segment will grow
at a high rate alongside with the maturity of
the online retailing in Brazil. A survey by e-Bit
shows that the e-commerce in Brazil moved
R$ 35,8 billion in 2014, growing by 17% in
comparison with the previous year.
“We’re getting into the online food retail
business because of a need of the market and
Mambo couldn’t miss out on this opportunity.
He considers that Brazil is now, much better
prepared for the online grocery shopping,
mostly due to the widespread use of the
broadband internet throughout the country.
“As the non-food online retail is becoming
more and more commonplace, food and
beverage is very likely to become the new
online retail market trend.” predict market
analysts. A survey of 30 thousand consumers
in 60 countries carried out by Nielsen,
published in January 2015, reveals that 13%
of consumers already shop for groceries
online. This number tends to reach 58%
within the next 6 or 10 years, driven mostly
by the “millennium” generation, people who
have always been in touch with technology
therefore, at least for them, shopping for
groceries on the web won’t be a big deal.