A UAE tech startup is hoping to “revolutionise” retail supply chains by creating a platform that links small grocery stores and suppliers.
Grocart describes itself as a “smart B2B wholesale marketplace” created to “support the transformation of the grocery market scene”.
The business was founded by CEO Hussein Hosni and COO Nesma Zaghow, who both come from a pharmaceutical background, after they “found that the B2B wholesale marketplace in the UAE and MENA is extremely fragemented, with many challenges for suppliers and distributors too, including poor reach, high cost of logistics and difficulties in credit terms”.
“The gap in the market was evident during the Covid-19 pandemic, where the need was greater for small retailers who who were very important for the economy, but they suffered from slow supply cycles and higher costs,” said Grocart.
“Using cutting-edge technology, the platform has streamlined the B2B wholesale market in the UAE for suppliers and distributors, allowing them to allocate their resources minus the challenges of high cost, poor reach, faulty logistic chains, and rigid credit terms.”
The platform offers funding solutions, storage, fulfilment, and logistics support and claims to lower operational costs by more than 30%.
Hosni said: “Grocery stores are found in every community, big or small. In remote areas and busy streets. There is something about them that is so charming and nostalgic. When the pandemic hit, they remained open but we noticed some struggled with deliveries or getting items on time.
“That is why we wanted to create a seamless solution to help them thrive and survive with a click of a finger, after all they are our supply line in time of crisis, in the middle of the night or just because it’s always close by.”
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