Brazil: Olist
Online retail in Brazil is growing fast, accounting for 12.4% of overall sales, up 12.6% between Q1 2022 and the same period the previous year, according to the MCC-ENET index. Leading categories include: office supplies (42.5%); furniture and home appliances (28.7%); fabrics, clothing and footwear (10.5%); drugstore items (7.2%); general merchandise (5.4%); and grocery products (3.9%).
Olist connects small businesses to larger marketplaces. It offers merchants support by managing product catalogues, inventory, pricing, fulfilment, customer service and payments in a single place. The SaaS (software as a service) product integrates operations across the fragmented Brazilian market. Without the system, the typical small seller has to use seven different systems to access the five main marketplaces, while needing to understand taxation in 27 states to comply with government requirements.
Egypt: Cartona
Egypt's retail market is worth £101.6bn ($120bn, €120bn), with food and beverages alone valued at £59.3bn ($70bn, €70bn). An estimated 400,000 retailers, including shops and international and domestic brands, are operating across the country, with the retail sector growing at 8% a year (source: TechCrunch).
Cartona is an Egypt-based B2B platform that is digitising the traditional trade market, enabling retailers to streamline operations through online ordering solutions. The platform connects retailers with FMCG producers and wholesalers, and already has more than 60,000 users, and works with more than 250 FMCG companies including brands like Henkel, Unilever, Bel and Mondelez. The start-up is also considering other verticals beyond FMCG, and says the product boosts financial inclusion for suppliers and retailers through its embedded finance, payments and operational integration.
