In industrialized countries, online marketplaces are the most common form of e-commerce for consumer goods.
They’re especially popular in Africa, where they have a lot of promise to service a new generation of customers and provide chances for small businesses. These firms make things easier by connecting restaurants directly to local food and beverage suppliers.
Across the continent, a growing number of Marketplace platforms are launching and expanding. OneOrder is one of them.
The startup, which is a new logistics firm that solves supply chain difficulties for Egyptian restaurants, has announced the debut and successful completion of a $1 million financing.
A15, the premier MENA investment firm and one of the area’s most notable financiers of early-stage start-ups, led the fundraising.
OneOrder is Egypt’s foremost logistics startup, tackling the huge inadequacies in the acquisition of supplies experienced by Egypt’s restaurants.
Tamer Amer, the founder of Fuego Sushi and Longhorn Texas BBQ, two of Egypt’s most successful restaurant businesses, created it.
OneOrder is building a platform to tackle the huge structural challenge that Egyptian restaurants have when dealing with a variety of small, segmented suppliers and vendors for meat, vegetables, and equipment on a daily basis.
This inefficient supply chain structure results in (i) irregular and opaque pricing, (ii) unpredictable quality that is passed on to restaurant customers, and (iii) erratic delivery schedule, with supplies frequently arriving late, restricting restaurants’ daily menu selections.
OneOrder’s creator and CEO, Tamer Amer, expressed his happiness at the company’s launch and fundraising and thanked A15 for their invaluable assistance.
Given Egypt’s booming restaurant business and the issues it suffers as a result of a disjointed supply chain, OneOrder provides a much-needed technology-enabled solution at an ideal time.
He explained that because of his background in the food and beverage industry, he understands what restaurant owners require: a continuous supply of high-quality goods delivered on time, without the stress of managing several suppliers on a daily basis.
He believes that restaurants should concentrate on providing a high-quality experience and service to their clients rather than worrying about sourcing and procurement.
OneOrder is the platform for doing so. He expressed his enthusiasm for the future, stating that their market opportunity is enormous. Egypt’s economy, like that of the rest of the region, is expanding, and the food and beverage industry is only getting bigger.
Techbuild’s Take
Small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) across Africa are finding new prospects thanks to the internet.
These businesses frequently sell things online and grow their customer base through local websites or social media sales channels.
It is more encouraging to sell things through established online marketplaces, which tend to draw more visitors and have a wider reach.
Small businesses, on the other hand, must devote time and resources to properly picking the correct platform and structuring their business around it.
However, nothing is known about the emphasis of these marketplaces, their relative performance, or how African SMEs might gain access to them. This is why new platforms are emerging.
OneOrder has a large market prospect. There are around 45,000 licensed restaurants in Egypt, but there are as many as a quarter of a million not registered restaurants that are all operating and using supplies.
The whole Food & Beverage (“F&B”)/Hospitality market in Egypt was estimated to be $13 billion by the US Department of Agriculture in 2019, and OneOrder expects that amount to have expanded significantly since then.
Market forces are also enticing. According to the latest analysis from Fitch Ratings, a global ratings organization, Egypt’s GDP would increase by 5.3 percent between 2021 and 2023, owing to strong private consumption and rising tourism.
Egypt is also developing new cities, such as New Alamein, and growing hotels and commerce around the country, all of which are good for the food and beverage industry.
Related restaurant supply chain inadequacies exist in other MENA nations, and OneOrder hopes to grow its offering geographically across the region over time.
For tiny African businesses, e-commerce holds a lot of promise. To expand e-commerce in Africa, available, accurate, and useful marketplace information is required.
Marketplaces must provide consolidated and easy-to-access information in local languages to promote communication and increase African engagement in e-commerce. They should also provide engaging and personal assistance to vendors via a chat function or helplines.
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