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The Online Operation: Small Grocer Opportunity in a Digital World

August 22, 2022 by Alix Lewis - Dominique Afoon Jones - Dr. Fazal Ali Leave a Comment


This series aims to explore how the digital grocery ecosystem will shape the future of retail in Trinidad & Tobago. In our previous case Accessing the Digital Shelf – The Small Vendor Reality, we explored the reality of most small businesses; that there are many obstacles preventing them from progressing or growing in a digital landscape. This gap is one of the reasons why the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Country Strategy with Trinidad & Tobago (2021-2025) aim to advance digital transformation, support SMEs, and stimulate sustainable and inclusive growth.

In contrast, this blog focuses on one small and medium enterprise (SME) that has successfully existed as a small grocer in a digital world; far before it was commonplace. For them, digital transformation wasn’t necessarily an option, it was the mechanism through which their business could exist, survive, and later, thrive. This is the case of D’ Market Movers Ltd.

Co-founders Rachel Renie and David Thomas

Established by Rachel Renie and David Thomas in 2009, D’ Market Movers Ltd. is an online greengrocery (www.dmarketmovers.com) specializing in the delivery of fresh produce (mainly local), groceries, meats, dairy, and other items to customers throughout Trinidad and Tobago. Their product line also includes Market Movers’ very own brand, Farm and Function, which offers a wide variety of frozen tropical fruit like mango, papaya, and guava to name a few, in resealable pouches.

At first, their catalogue was small (under 50 items), but over time, it has expanded to include about 300-400 products by using big data technology to increase their range of offerings. The use of data analytics helped them determine the most searched items by consumers visiting their site, the fastest selling items, and what the demand was for goods they did not offer at the time. Without a doubt, customer insight and market research through data analytics was the driver of their business growth.

D’Market Movers’ very own Farm & Function offers up a variety of frozen fruits

In order to maintain a high-quality standard, the products offered by Market Movers are as fresh as possible, so delivery cycles have been developed to harvest about twice a week. Buffer stock levels are maintained based on average weekly order amounts and when stock dips below a certain level, system checks send automatic notifications to re-order.

The use of technology and automation has allowed for efficient processing of orders and improved order fulfillment. Due to each order’s unique nature, they are individually picked, packed, and processed manually. Market Movers store operations show that both automated and manual involvement is required for order processing in their digital grocery. 

For a seamless payment process, Market Movers has configured their digital store operations to offer customers multiple payment options. When an order is placed on their website, the customer can opt for credit card payment; choose to pay cash on delivery/pick-up, or make payment via an online bank transfer. The customer receives notifications every step of the way – when an order is confirmed, when it is dispatched and in route, and when it’s delivered.

Market Movers gives the customer the option to have orders delivered directly or be collected at their Click & Collect Green Grocery which was specifically opened to provide more flexibility and greater convenience to shoppers.

An array of fresh fruit and vegetables that Market Movers offers

A Digital Economy Opportunity for D’ Market Movers Ltd.

In many ways, Market Movers was born at the perfect junction of preparation meeting opportunity. The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating to most small businesses, many unable to survive, but it has also been an expansion opportunity for some, allowing them to adapt and integrate into a digital economy unencumbered by the effects of lockdowns and restrictions. For an SME such as Market Movers, though physical supermarkets and grocers were still permitted to be open, the public health crisis caused an exponential increase in customers overnight. Luckily, they had the infrastructure set up to handle this.

When asked about the greatest challenges faced as an SME, Market Movers conveys, as others have in this series, that they would like increased support for businesses operating in the digital economy, especially small ones. As the nation pushes towards a digital future, there is an opportunity to address legislation to facilitate accommodations or inclusion for online businesses and to better enable e-commerce. This will help SMEs become more viable and sustainable in this new digital marketplace.

As part of the IDB’s work across Latin America and the Caribbean, it is exploring synergies between the public and private sectors; seeking to build more innovative and robust entrepreneurial ecosystems, and supporting SMEs like Market Movers. Last year, IDB Lab collaborated with Term Finance SME TT Limited (SME TT), to support their innovative digital lending model which provides loans to excluded micro, small, and medium enterprises in Trinidad and Tobago. This financing will enable SMEs to more easily and rapidly access the credit they need to expand their operations, and sustain the crucial jobs they generate, mainly among vulnerable and low-income populations. Also, in Jamaica, the IDB is financing the Boosting Innovation, Growth and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (BIGEE) project, to be executed by the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) with the vision to finance economic growth of MSMEs. This programme will promote sustainable growth of startups and innovation amongst high-growth potential MSMEs while building a strong ecosystem for entrepreneurship.

Market Movers is often praised as being the first SME of its kind in the digital grocery space in Trinidad and Tobago. Though far advanced in comparison to its contemporaries, they are still working to become a fully functioning digital grocery ecosystem as manual processes are still required for parts of their business operation. Emerging evidence from our series is beginning to show that unless the enabling environment can fully serve digital grocery transformation, SMEs, even success stories like Market Movers, cannot fully operate as a grocery ecosystem and will continue to have limitations in their advancements in a digital world. For Trinidad and Tobago in particular, the Country Strategy 2021-2025, aims to address this with a focus on digital transformation and its potential for transforming sectors, strengthening governance and institutions, and promoting social progress for a more inclusive, sustainable future.


Filed Under: Data and Knowledge, Digital Transformation, Economy & Investment, Finance, Private Sector and Entrepreneurship, Technology, Trinidad and Tobago

Alix Lewis

Alix Lewis is an Operations Support Consultant in the Social Protection and Health Division in the Trinidad and Tobago Country Office. Previously, she served as a Brand and Communications Consultant at the IDB Lab in DC. She holds an Master of Law in China Studies from Peking University in Beijing, China, where she focused her research on China-Caribbean relations; and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Wellesley College, in Boston, USA. She is a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago.

Dominique Afoon Jones

Dominique Afoon is a Senior Associate in the Health & Social Protection Division at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Her primary focus lies in the strategic development and implementation of health projects across Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, and the broader Caribbean region. Prior to her role at the IDB, Dominique garnered experience in the private sector as a distributor of fast-moving consumer goods in Trinidad for 15 years. Her academic background includes a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics & Economics from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, and a Master's in Business Administration from Edinburgh Business School. She also holds a PMP certification from the Project Management Institute. In 2023, Dominique completed the Leading Digital Transformation in Healthcare program at Harvard Medical School. This advanced training has strengthened her commitment to driving digital health innovation and transformation within the region.

Dr. Fazal Ali

Dr. Fazal Ali is a specialist consultant coordinating the IDB’s Digital Transformation agenda in Trinidad and Tobago. Fazal is a Commonwealth Scholar who completed his doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge, and the University of the West Indies (UWI). Fazal established The Institute of Critical Thinking at the UWI and was appointed as Secretary to the University Consortium of Small Island Developing States (UCSIS). Fazal also served as the Provost of the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). He is a former member of the UNESCO Memory of the World team and a former Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Teaching Service Commission.

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Caribbean Dev Trends

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