Lessons Learned

Marketplace

Digital marketing campaigns must be monitored according to the market variables being tested. The person responsible for digital marketing at the online supermarket must keep a transparent record of their campaigns showing the market variables being tested and the levels of success achieved. The project is the owner of this record, so it must be in a public and secure place at the same time. The person responsible for executing the digital marketing strategy must be available and explain in detail their specialized work to any member of the project if instructed to do so through the respective channels, under penalty of assuming sanctions in this regard. From the moment the person responsible for this activity joins the project, these terms must be established for both parties.
It is necessary for the digital supermarket to have a warehouse or be associated with a physical supermarket in order to be able to manage the arrival and departure of orders efficiently, have an inventory of the most requested items and the necessary cold conditions for various products such as dairy and meat. This warehouse, like inventory control at this point, may require a logistics expert and another in systems so that together they can carry out an almost automatic control of the operation. This will allow the business to scale quickly while increasing the costs of the initial investment.

From the project initiation phase, the competitive advantage of the project and therefore its positioning must be clear. The market and other participants such as the government, the competition, quality certifiers and the owner himself can suggest and even impose ways of doing things that reduce the competitiveness of the business model amidst good intentions and some ignorance.
Always use what is already there before making large investments. Creativity to use what is already there and not make additional investments that imply monthly fixed costs is key to the consolidation and subsequent growth of a business that already has high fixed costs.

Check legal arrangements to see if they allow selling food to the public from private homes. In many countries, selling food to the public without the necessary permits is prohibited, so it is necessary to consider alternative arrangements such as donations or tips.
Distribution is crucial for the implementation of the business model. Orders can be delivered either by the same customer who comes to pick up the order at the point of sale or if there is a distribution system that can be used such as Uber Eats or Rappi, these shipping costs are added to the value of the product.

If the online product developer is hired to make a custom product, he will have much bargaining power when supporting the finished product. This bargaining power of the developer is a very high risk when the project is already in operation. Once a desired level of sales is reached, a support contract must be made at reasonable costs or expert personnel must be linked to the project who can learn to support it.
Implementing a new technological tool for the market must be accompanied by training and monitoring for its effective use and adaptation by the user. If concrete results of increased sales accompany this, it would be the ideal scenario.