Danish online marketplace for FMCG brands Shobr is diligently working on its international expansion, with the Netherlands as its first foreign market. Are brand manufacturers trying to bypass the supermarket?
Take matters into own hands
At the Shobr website, Danish consumers can buy fresh and frozen food straight from the about 150 brand manufacturers currently on the platform. Those include many well-known names, like Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, Carlsberg, Heineken, Dr.Oetker, Coca-Cola, Bic…
Founder Lars Munch Johansen may have launched the platform in Denmark, but he and his ShopAll24, which is the platform’s eCommerce service provider, already indicated a willingness to step abroad last year, in an interview with The Grocer. At that time, he said that an international expansion would be the next logical step and Distrifood now states that the Netherlands will be the first foreign market to welcome Shobr.
What sets Shobr apart from the rest? The brand manufacturers are taking matters into their own hands on this platform, which was backed by Danish manufacturers’ organization DLF. The goal was to create a direct connection between the brand manufacturers and the consumer and to gain an insight into food’s online potential. One of the platform’s inspirations was Chinese Alibaba-owned Tmall marketplace.
Staging area
Although online food purchases are not that popular just yet, customer fidelity is and the market itself is enormous. Those things pave the way for the future, but Lars Munch Johansen says it is not is goal to cast aside the supermarket. Brands are interested in this approach because they get to decide where to go and they can also keep their own identity on the platform. Sales information and analyses are also available to them and Shobr considers itself to be an ideal staging area for new products or possible promotional techniques.
The platform also gives consumers more security and faith because it is backed by famous brands. Operating as a one-stop-shop, it also provides convenience, a varied product range and excellent value for money. The logistics are also handled from one central location, making sure that shoppers get one single delivery with everything they ordered included.
