Founded in 2011, the Spanish-headquartered tech specialist developed its retail catalog aggregator to enable online indexing of consumer goods, giving users of its website or app a means to compare prices and product deals before shopping in-store or online. Through Tiendeo, consumers can either click through to a retailer's e-commerce platform to buy goods or find a location to shop in-store directly.
With more than 30 million global users across 39 countries, Tiendeo has a growing presence in Latin America across seven countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. In 2019, the Latin America region generated revenues of €4m (US$4.5m) for Tiendeo – a figure Alfredo Perez, international business development manager for the company, said should more than triple by 2021, with target revenues of €15-16m (US$17-18m).
Smartphones to 'change everything'
“It's very ambitious,” Perez told FoodNavigator-LATAM. “Globally, the Latin American market represents 30% of total revenues and after two or three years, the market should represent more than 50% - at least half of revenues. That's the idea. And if things work well, Latin America should be the biggest of incoming revenues for the company,” he said.
The promise for such growth in the region pivoted on the anticipated boom in smartphone use, he said. Typically, around 55% of Latin America had access to smartphones currently, he said, but this was estimated to soar to as much as 80-90% of the population in countries like Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina within two to three years.
“That is going to change everything. A smartphone in our hand gives us internet access; that gives the opportunity of connecting with people in a very different way, day by day,” Perez said.
Currently, 75-80% of all Tiendeo users in Latin America accessed the site on a mobile web platform rather than through the app and a large majority of consumers then went to the physical store to buy goods.
Tiendeo would, therefore, work on driving wider use of its app across the region, as well as evolve its technology to better analyze consumers using the service through the web, he said.
So, how exactly does Tiendeo work?
Perez said Tiendeo's was a “place to find information” on a whole range of products, primarily grocery store products like food and beverages.
Using specialized technology, the company cataloged information – already in the public domain – about products and brands in retail stores, making it easier for consumers to shop the best deals. For Latin Americans, he said this was particularly valued.
“Consumers in Latin America are very, very expecting. They want the best offers and best products, week by week. They're very used to searching and comparing to prepare their shop before going to the final shop and they're very receptive to a platform where they can find the best offers,” he said.
For example, through Tiendeo, consumers could compare prices and deals on milk brands in various stores like Walmart and Chedraui on a daily basis. “That makes the consumer very, very confident with this kind of platform. They can use it week by week and prepare their best shop.”
Important data for industry...
For retailers and brand-owners, Perez said Tiendeo provided valuable data and insights from its geo-tracking technology integrated into its app, showing how consumers went from a simple search to finally buying a product.
“The experience of the consumer is essential for a retailer to understand what's important for that consumer, which then allows a brand or a supermarket chain the possibility of impacting with much more effect,” he said.
Tiendeo, therefore, offered a strong partnership for food, beverage and retail players looking to secure or improve business in the region, he said. “We want to become a reference in the retail sector as one partner sho is helping to reconvert the way of how [brands] communicate with consumers and how they interact with them in the shop.”
Tiendeo initially launched into Mexico in 2015; Colombia in 2016; and Chile in 2017 and Mexico now represented its largest LATAM market.
