The homegrown e-grocery start-up features the country’s first fully automated fulfillment centre developed by Swisslog
Raha, the region’s newest e-grocery platform, has announced that it has officially launched in the Kuwait market, with its app now available on all Apple iPhones and Samsung Android devices.
An innovative homegrown concept, Raha is the Middle East’s first pure-play, fully automated e-grocery platform – offering a full range of groceries, fresh produce, and household essentials. It also features Kuwait’s first fully automated robotics-fulfillment centre, and one of the first centre of the kind globally with a chilled warehouse capability, a press statement indicated.
Developed by global warehouse automation specialist, Swisslog, the centre serves as the core foundation of Raha’s technology-driven operational model and fully automated, data-driven intralogistics system featuring the AutoStore solution; an innovative automated material handling solution that uses robots on top of an aluminum grid system to store and locate goods, efficiently delivering them to pick stations for processing.
Conceived as a digital operation first and foremost, Raha is making a huge investment in its technological infrastructure and completely self-serving operational model, including the robot-led fulfillment team and in-house preparation of all fresh items.
Smart platform
Raha’s easy-to-navigate smart platform leverages users’ data and insights to provide a personalized customer journey unlike any other in the market, with made-to-order items, easy step-by-step customization, tailored recipes and an impressively wide range of varieties across all product segments.
Raha’s investment in technology and innovation did not come as an added value extension of the business, but rather has been the driving notion at the heart of its conception and service model from the very beginning.
“Every step of the customer journey from first log-in to final order delivery has been carefully designed to deliver maximum convenience. We wanted to translate and elevate the traditional grocery experience at its absolute best to a seamless digital experience,” affirmed Saleh Al-Tunaib. Co-Founder and CEO, Raha.
Raha’s heavy investment in the infrastructure of both its software and product technology built a self-serving operational model that is now Kuwait’s first robotic fulfillment centre. Concurrently, Raha successfully launched a fully automated, chilled fulfillment centre making it one of the first of its kind globally. This achievement introduces to the entire region the emerging trend of intralogistics, which is proving to shape the future of the eCommerce industry worldwide, the press note continued.
Quality benchmarks
With a core commitment to hit quality and freshness benchmarks across every order, Raha employs a completely temperature-controlled and precise process. The full cycle of logistics from procurement to last-mile delivery, is systematic and precisely controlled. Dedicated areas for the in-house preparation of meats, poultry, fish, and deli items offer consumers unparalleled freshness when coupled with Raha’s unique indoor dispatch area.
Their trained fleet carry out the last-mile delivery that is route-optimized and time-efficient to complete the full cycle, seamlessly inserting Raha’s redefined grocery experience into the online commerce space that users are increasingly migrating to currently, the press release stated.
Additionally, Raha offers a nutritionally categorized assortment to fit all lifestyles and a unique feature in the form of Raha Recipes: a one click add-to-cart recipes component, with recipes produced in-house using only items available in the app.
“The micro-fulfilment centre designed for Raha is the first automated micro-fulfilment centre (MFC) implemented in Kuwait, with a system designed in such a way that order capacity per day can be effectively doubled through the ease of expansion our solution provides,” asserted David Dronfield, General Manager, Swisslog Middle East.
Flexibility and convenience
Customers are offered unparalleled flexibility and convenience by building a system that not only caters to both chilled and ambient products but that is designed to execute both express and scheduled delivery.
Though Kuwait was under lock down, a tremendous work ethic and solid collaboration between Swisslog and Raha made possible the timely and successful implementation of the system, overcoming the pandemic barriers through our joint efforts.
It may be noted that Raha was created and designed by a diverse team of driven young talents, who bring with them wide ranging expertise and experience in the fields of grocery retail, e-commerce, and tech development in the region. The company has completed its seed round of funding, with an impressive capital of US$ 6.7mn raised by Saudi and Kuwaiti backers, as well as an international VC (venture capitalist) the press communiqué concluded.
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