DIA Case Study 5 The road to grocery ecommerce In Argentina, DIA had set up an ecommerce operation a few years ago, highly aware that digitalisation was going to be imperative for all retailers sooner or later, with customer convenience dictating the rules of the game. At first, the chain tested the digital commerce waters with a focus on non- food items. It was the perfect learning experience, as non-food items are more easily manageable than perishable ones – fulfilment can be done under normal parameters and there is no expiration date to notably expedite the delivery process. DIA struck gold with this strategy. The growth of the non-food ecommerce channel was huge, and so DIA decided to be bolder and venture into food ecommerce, too. It was, after all, an intrinsic part of its ultimate goal: being close to its customers every day, no matter their shopping preferences. But such a grand undertaking requires a technology to match, one that can support the logistical intricacies of the sector, offer flexibility, and catalyze enterprise-level growth – in a rapid manner. DIA ideally envisioned having native, out-of-the-box capabilities and features such as an integrated order management system (OMS), the ability to implement pick-up in-store, geolocation registration, powerful pricing and promotion modules, and a vast ecosystem of payment providers. In June 2018, DIA chose to migrate to VTEX Commerce Platform to guarantee it could expertly tackle every scenario of an online grocery store – and so it did. Just three months after handpicking the new platform provider, in August 2018, the revamped DIA Online was launched, selling both food and non-food items. “When we started in ecommerce, we only offered non-food products. However, sales growth through this channel was such that we decided in 2018 to include food products and relaunch the website as DIA Online, which was a great challenge.” Fernanda Onzari Nobua, Ecommerce Director of DIA Argentina