Chari, a startup company based in Morocco that specialises in the digital distribution of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs), has recently created a new chain of B2B stores in order to cater to the requirements of local grocery stores.
Ismael and Sophia Belkhayat, a husband-and-wife duo, established Chari in 2020 with the goal of enabling traditional shop owners in Morocco to order things and have them delivered to their locations. Around 20,000 food businesses in Morocco have joined the network since it was launched, and it has already spread to Tunisia and Ivory Coast.
The business, which took part in the Y Combinator S21 batch, completed a seed round of fundraising for $5 million in United States dollars in late 2021, successfully attracted additional investment in January 2022, and, most recently, in February of this year, successfully raised an additional $1 million from Orange Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Orange.
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The Services of Chari’s New Stores
The newly opened chain of stores provides grocery stores with the chance to broaden the variety of products they provide and boost their profitability by providing these products at rates that are in line with the industry standard. These stores are fully equipped with digital technology, allowing proprietors of grocery stores to go to any Nearby location, place an order for the necessary items via a computer terminal, and either pick up their orders in fewer than ten minutes or have them delivered straight to their stores.
In addition to this, they provide a service known as “click and collect,” which enables retailers to place orders for the products they require through the Chari app and then pick them up at any Chari store at a time that is convenient for them. These stores are also meant to serve as training centres for the digital tools that are made available by Chari. Some examples of these digital tools include an e-commerce app called Karny.ma and an app called Chari’s e-commerce app. Last but not least, they will also function as dark stores and neighbourhood warehouses, allowing for the delivery of any things requested through the e-commerce app within two hours of the order being placed.
“We are excited to launch this new chain of B2B stores for grocery stores in Morocco,” said Ismael Belkhayat, co-founder of Chari.
“We are confident that these shops will help grocery stores digitise, improve their product offerings, and increase their profitability. We are committed to providing quality products at competitive prices and to helping grocery stores go digital to better serve their customers.”
The first two locations of this network were established just last week in the cities of Casablanca and el Jadida. Chari plans to open a total of one hundred locations by the year 2024. The product selection at Chari B2B stores includes more than a thousand different SKUs representing around one hundred different brands, and it includes everything from culinary supplies to personal hygiene items.
About Chari
Chari is an e-commerce app that enables small retailers in French-speaking Africa to order merchandise for their businesses, have it delivered for free, and take advantage of several payment options. Chari also helps these retailers.
Commerce in French and African languages has a tendency to be choppy and conversational in tone. For instance, in Morocco, there are around 200,000 tedconvenience stores that together generate annual revenue of more than ten billion dollars worth of goods.
The aim of Chari is to fulfil the requirements of these business owners by providing them with a steady supply of consumer goods and by making available to them a variety of financial services. A neighbourhood shop can use Chari’s app to place orders for products at incomparable pricing and take advantage of a free delivery service in less than twenty-four hours by simply clicking a few buttons on their smartphone.
It is currently operating in Morocco and Tunisia, and we will serve customers better with their new stores.