“The
platform will also enable customers overseas to shop and have products
delivered to their loved ones”
General Manager of
Hi-Lo Food Stores Renee Nathan
GraceKennedy,
owners of some 13 Hi-Lo stores across Jamaica, has decided it's time to get
online.
They're
upgrading their stores with an online portal so that Jamaicans can buy products
on their website as noted in the article “Hi-Lo
Going Online - Grocery-Shopping Platform, Deliveries For Next Year”,
Published Sunday September 24, 2017 by Avia Collinder, The Jamaica Gleaner.
Hi-Lo's
online shopping platform will go live in the fourth quarter of 2018 as pointed
out by General Manager of Hi-Lo Food Stores Renee Nathan, quote: “Our focus is
to be able to serve and engage our customers across multiple channels, so
customers can have a great shopping experience with Hi-Lo how and when they
choose”.
This
is part of a $1 billion on upgrading of their key stores. This announcement was
made on Thursday September 21st 2017 when they revealed their recently
renovated 24,000 square-foot Portmore store. Shopper in Portmore will now enjoy
a dine-in deli, a bakery and a juice bar in addition to banking at First Global
Bank.
Their
online website is expected to add to the revenue expected from this upgrade, to
quote Renee Nathan: “We see online as a complement to existing brick-and-mortar
locations, and, as such, we plan to continue to grow in both spaces. We expect
for this new platform to become increasingly significant to our business over
time as our customers' lives become more hectic and they seek convenient ways
to shop”.
So
what will this online platform mean to Hi-Lo and GraceKennedy?
Hi-Lo and GraceKennedy
Online - Tapping overseas Jamaicans to expand their MPay platform
For
one, it'll allow relatives abroad to buy supermarket produce for their loved
ones as noted by Renee Nathan, quote: “The platform will also enable customers
overseas to shop and have products delivered to their loved one”.
This
hints at the use of GK MPay as a means of accepting payments along with Credit,
Prepaid Debit, Paypal and other trusted online payment options. They'll also be
offering home delivery services with the help of a courier company as noted by
Renee Nathan, quote: “We are still developing our plans, but many of these
functions will be outsourced. There will be a charge for the added convenience
of delivery”.
Cross
Roads store in Kingston will be upgraded in 2019 with their Spanish Town, St
Catherine branch to follow. All told, they've already spent some US$5 million
to date on their storewide upgrading work.
Their
main rival in the same space in Jamaica, Progressive Grocers, doesn’t allow
Jamaicans abroad to buy items for local pickup by their relatives. So not only
will they be the first, but they'll also be tapping into the foreign exchange
that they already receive as remittances. It'll also expand their MPay platform
considerably.
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