COMPANY

Name: My Bodega Online

Legal Name: My Bodega Online, LLC

Location: New York City, New York

Founded: October 2015

Founder(s): Jose Bello

Website: https://www.mybodega.online/

Social Media: 31 Followers on Twitter, 141 likes on Facebook, 32 followers on LinkedIn

INDUSTRY –  Online grocery retail in the USA

Size: $13.89Bn in 2017 (Source: Hexaresearch)

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Introduction

Have an urgent need for the likes of milk, snacks, detergents or eggs, at odd times of the day? A B2C delivery platform, My Bodega Online lets users shop for everyday essentials from small physical grocery stores via a mobile phone app or webpage. This ‘glocal’ e-marketplace seeks to bridge the gap between offline stores and customers who love to shop online.

It also doubles as a B2B communication platform that helps local grocers and suppliers deal efficiently with each other.

The Product

Today, small grocery stores are struggling to keep up with bigger players such as hypermarkets and convenience stores, owing to inefficient delivery, limited working capital, lack of inventory, little or no online presence, and a growing disconnect with FMCG companies. Also, according to Techday HQ, FMCG companies have to bear a 50% higher selling cost when dealing with small grocers vs modern retail formats

The My Bodega Online app and website were conceptualized to simplify grocery delivery and payment for mom and pop stores. At the same time, thanks to a backend ERP management software, the startup saves on communication, logistics, inventory management and selling costs incurred by suppliers.

With My Bodega Online, users just need to download the app, enter their address and select the nearest bodega (as grocery stores are called in the US). Then, they need to select grocery items they need and pay, to get it delivered to their doorstep within 15 minutes or less. Alternately, customers who want to receive the order sooner could go pick it up from the store.

From the local grocer, My Bodega Online takes a cut of $0.50 per transaction (on pickup or delivery) and $0.05 per push notification to customers. Suppliers also pay $5 per transaction and $0.03 to $0.25 for push notifications to the client or store. Thus, the startup has formulated a clear cut means of monetizing its services from both stakeholders.

Origin and Founding Team

My Bodega Online was born in October 2015, in Washington Heights, an immigrant neighborhood of New York City. Because Cornell postgraduate Jose Bello believes in helping small grocery stores stay connected better with clients and suppliers, irrespective of location, the startup is focused on scaling to become a global brand.

Performance and Trends

In 2018, the privately held company secured $100K in seed capital.

Though it started with connecting with NYC immigrant-owned stores, today (according to Bello), the startup seeks to digitize 11,000 bodegas in New York and 12 million kirana (grocery) stores in India.
By March 2017, My Bodega Online was already in five markets, according to a discourse by Bello at a 1 million cups’ event. He also added that they hope to serve ten developing markets by around March 2020.