Grocery Retail · Hyperlocal E-Commerce
Bangladesh’s Largest Supermarket Chain, Rebuilt as a Store That Knows Which Shelf Is Nearest
Project Snapshot
- Client : Shwapno, Bangladesh’s largest retail supermarket chain
- Industry : Retail, distribution and e-commerce
- Scope : Full e-commerce rebuild — web and app, search, personalisation, catalogue, logistics, ERP and analytics integration
- Platforms : Mobile and web
- Technologies : Next.js, Angular, .NET, Flutter, Firebase, AWS, Algolia, SAP S/4HANA, Power BI
- Audience : Over 1 million customers
The Impact
100K+
App downloads within four months of launch
39%
Increase in user rating over the same period
Hyperlocal
Inventory shown for the store nearest each customer, in real time
SAP-synced
Stock synchronised with S/4HANA rather than maintained twice
Overview
Shwapno is the supermarket most of urban Bangladesh already shops at. Its online store was not the same experience: a SaaS platform that could not show what was actually on the shelf nearby, and could not carry the brand. Three groups needed something better:
- customers, more than a million of them, who expect the app to know their local store,
- store, regional and head-office staff, each needing a different level of control, and
- the fulfilment operation — pickers, packers and drivers — working without the tools to prioritise.
Grocery e-commerce is unforgiving in a way general retail is not. Stock changes by the hour, prices vary by batch and unit, and a customer who is shown an item the nearest store does not have will not be back. The platform had to be hyperlocal or it would not work at all.
Brain Station 23 rebuilt the platform from the ground up — a fully customised, scalable store with hyperlocal inventory, Algolia search, AI recommendations, real-time tracking and multi-level access, integrated with SAP S/4HANA and a full analytics stack.
The result surpassed 100,000 app downloads with a 39% rise in user rating inside four months, and put the digital experience level with what customers already expect in-store.
Business Challenges
A supermarket’s online store fails quietly: the wrong stock, the wrong price for the pack size, a delivery that cannot find the address. Each of the pressures below is one of those quiet failures at scale.
Seven pressures shaped the rebuild.
- The SaaS platform could not keep up. It failed to meet Shwapno’s brand standards or its scalability needs.
- Stock was not local. There was no way to show hyperlocal inventory or real-time stock updates for the store serving each customer.
- Personalisation was limited. Weak engagement features held back the user experience.
- Logistics was complex. Delivery management needed route optimisation and geofencing the platform did not have.
- Analytics was thin. Inventory, sales and customer behaviour lacked comprehensive, actionable insight.
- The catalogue was hard to manage. Large product ranges with dynamic pricing and multi-unit measurements strained the tooling.
- Access and integration were unsolved. Secure multi-level user access and seamless synchronisation with SAP S/4HANA were both required.
The common thread is that grocery is an operations business wearing a storefront. The rebuild had to reach the warehouse and the ERP, not just the homepage.
Showing customers stock the nearest store does not have?
Bring it to a 30-minute call — we will come back with an architecture and a scoped estimate.
What We Built
The build starts with the customer’s location and works backwards through search, catalogue, fulfilment and the systems of record behind them.
A hyperlocal, scalable platform
A fully customised e-commerce platform shows inventory tailored to each user’s location, so what a customer sees is what the nearest store can actually deliver.
Algolia-powered search
Enhanced search with dynamic filters, auto-suggestions and voice search makes a large grocery catalogue navigable on a phone.
AI-driven personalisation
Personalised product recommendations and promotions appear site-wide, turning a catalogue into a shop that knows the customer.
Advanced catalogue management
Multi-unit stock, batch pricing and rich filtering handle the reality of grocery — the same product sold by piece, weight and pack at different prices.
Real-time tracking and onboarding
Order tracking, push notifications and an in-app walkthrough keep customers informed from checkout to doorstep.
Multi-language and map-based addresses
Language support and drag-and-drop map address input remove two of the most common reasons an order goes wrong in Bangladesh.
Multi-level access and operational tools
Secure access control for admin, regional and store users, with geofencing, campaign management and dynamic customer segmentation built in.
ERP, analytics and fulfilment integration
SAP S/4HANA synchronises inventory in real time; Power BI, Google Analytics and Algolia analytics provide insight; and fulfilment dashboards monitor pickers, packers, route optimisation and notifications.
The Results
The outcomes are visible in the app stores, in the delivery fleet and in how head office reads the business.
Customers and reputation
The app surpassed 100,000 downloads with a 39% increase in user rating within four months. Personalised shopping and hyperlocal stock availability improved satisfaction, and the digital experience now matches the in-store excellence Shwapno is known for.
Operations and control
Geofencing and real-time route updates improved delivery accuracy, while fulfilment monitoring and task prioritisation raised operational efficiency. Integrated analytics support decisions on sales trends and customer behaviour, and multi-level access with ERP integration strengthened security and management.
The transferable lesson is in the word hyperlocal. Most retail platforms treat inventory as one number; grocery needs it to be a number per store, per hour, and everything from search to promotions has to respect that.
The SAP integration is the unglamorous foundation. Synchronising stock with the system of record is what lets the storefront promise availability without the operation maintaining two truths.
Running retail online with stock that changes by the hour?
You might be showing customers items the nearest store does not have, managing a catalogue your platform cannot price correctly, or running fulfilment without the tools to prioritise. In every case, the first step is the same.
Book a 30-minute call with Brain Station 23. Bring your catalogue, your store network and your ERP, and we will come back with a proposed architecture, a delivery plan and a scoped estimate.
Showing customers stock the nearest store does not have?
Bring it to a 30-minute call — we will come back with an architecture and a scoped estimate.
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