OSF Digital Implements a Grocery Ecommerce Solution for Continente

Continente Online Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary by Launching an Innovative Grocery Ecommerce Solution

Québec City, Canada – June 9, 2021 – OSF Digital announced that it has completed its implementation of a new, flexible and scalable Salesforce Commerce Cloud-based ecommerce solution for grocery retail chain Continente. The chain is part of Sonae MC, the largest retailer in Portugal and a leading player in the Portuguese food retail market.

To mark its 20th anniversary, Continente launched a new website and mobile app. The new Continente Online represents a renewed brand image, and its features facilitate an easy, modern purchase process with user-friendly navigation and mobile-friendly access from any device. The android app is now available in the Google Play store, as well as the iOS version on the app store.

Continente Online now offers a wide range of products and supports payments with the Continente loyalty card. The online grocery store now provides personalized recommendations for customers based on their online and offline purchase history. The enhanced checkout experience allows customers to manage product-to-product replacements and suggests alternatives to out-of-stock items, making the shopping process faster from any device. Online grocery shoppers can choose same-day delivery (7 days a week from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.) or pickup from one of more than Continente’s 150 stores, covering nearly 80% of the population. The retailer also offers a free delivery subscription.

In 2020, Continente.pt saw 75% growth in digital revenue, with many customers experiencing Continente’s online shopping platform for the first time.

“During the first quarantine period, there was a very significant increase in new customers coming to use our online store, along with an increase in purchases from our returning customers. We had the opportunity to interact with a much higher number of customers, and we currently have record retention and repetition levels,” said Pedro Santos, Director of Ecommerce at Sonae MC.

“Since 2001, when Continente Online originally launched, the online business has been a winning bet for Sonae MC. We have believed in this channel for a long time. We will continue to invest in the development and modernization of our digital business and the seamless integration of it with our physical stores. This evolution represents a layer of additional convenience over our base service. With the new online store, we will have a period of adaptation by customers, and we will count on your feedback to continue building the future of Continente Online together,” Santos said.

Continente’s commitment to digital transformation is fueled by its mission to provide excellent services and valuable customer experiences across physical and digital channels. This initiative also strengthens the relationship between Sonae MC and Salesforce, which collaborated for nearly 12-months on the project. Sonae MC and OSF Digital also co-innovated the development of the Commerce Cloud solution, adding custom grocery-specific functionalities such as selling products by weight. OSF Digital also integrated the retailer’s Service Cloud with Commerce Cloud.

The implementation of the Salesforce Commerce Cloud platform was performed by OSF Digital, a system integration partner referenced by Salesforce. With this platform and multi-cloud integration, the brand can speed up delivery times and centralize operations on Commerce Cloud in a symbiotic way that keeps teams that operate Continente Online up to date.

Bruno Mourão, Head of IT Transformation and IT Strategy & Experimentation at Sonae MC, said, “This trio was essential for the introduction of a new chapter in the history of Continente Online. We worked with Salesforce and OSF Digital to raise our online platform to the level of value that Continente Online delivers to all its customers. We now have our center of excellence where we can develop new experiences whether they are new sites, custom experiences within Continente Online or even the integration of new services.”

OSF Digital specializes in designing and implementing grocery ecommerce solutions that unify customer data, creating strategic opportunities for online grocery markets to craft better customer experiences through increased personalization. As a Salesforce Navigator Expert in B2C Commerce and Retail, OSF Digital delivered a unique solution that meets Continente’s technical goals regarding scalability, stability, and web performance.