In a world where digital shopping is often synonymous with convenience, few have dared to challenge the traditional retail narrative as boldly as Lee Juanquim Antunes, the founder and CEO of BuyBox. Together with co-founder Tapiwa Mudungwe, Lee is spearheading what he refers to not just as a business, but as a movement.
Early Challenges
From humble beginnings in Harare, Zimbabwe, Antunes’s journey is painted with an array of challenges, reflections, and aspirations.
“You know, I come from a place where being different was not celebrated. It was condemned,” he recounts, a hint of determination resonating in his voice.
His early experiences shaped his ambition to not only dream bigger but to turn those dreams into reality. “Education gave me a foundation—but it didn’t prepare me for the real work. I had to teach myself. Over and over again. Fail. Learn. Adapt. That was the real curriculum.”
Disrupting Norms
Lee’s frustrations with how traditional retailers operated ignited a fire in him to disrupt the norms.
“In the beginning, it was not about technology. It was not even about business. It was about rage. Pure frustration,” he continues.
His dissatisfaction with major retailers, who focused on enticing window shoppers rather than serving time-conscious customers, was the spark for BuyBox. “Why should Elizabeth—a mother of two—face traffic, queues, bad service when grocery shopping? Why can’t groceries come to her, fast, reliably, affordably? That was our first thought: convenience.”
The Birth of BuyBox
The concept was simple yet powerful: Remove the middlemen, streamline operations, and directly connect with suppliers to cut costs.
“What if we could run lean—no stores, just smart warehouses, a handful of staff, and seamless logistics to your door?” The vision materialized into BuyBox’s core ethos: convenience and low cost.
Since its inception, BuyBox has been anything but conventional. With a small team of just seven, including four developers, Antunes and Mudungwe have focused on building an efficient system aimed at serving their customers rather than chasing after the latest trends in technology.
“We spent months with real people. Not execs in boardrooms. Real Gen Z students,” shares Lee, highlighting their commitment to understanding consumer behavior.
Impressive Growth
In a relatively short time frame, BuyBox has shown impressive growth metrics. “Between February 1 and April 1, we delivered 580 products,” Antunes notes. “From March 1 to March 20, traffic jumped from 200 to 7,000. By April 7, we hit 11 300. That is not hype. That is people responding to value.”
However, it was not all smooth sailing. Lee faced tough decisions regarding which customers to serve first. Choosing to focus on convenience over price sensitivity, he explains, “We made a decision. We chose the ones who value their time. The ones who want it now, not next week.”
This customer-first approach quickly paid dividends. “We obsessed over the experience. Every click. Every delivery. Every smile. And guess what? The people we served well brought two to four more friends. Just like that.”
Future Expectations
BuyBox’s future is more than an expanded business model, it is a vision of community and connection.
“BuyBox is going to be a pillar—not just for commerce, but for connection. For opportunity. For impact,” Lee asserts. His focus extends to empowering local entrepreneurs and nurturing young talent—a sentiment shared by Tapiwa, who is currently exploring ventures in medical diagnostics and fintech.
As technology evolves, so do Lee’s ambitions for BuyBox. “We’re building something extraordinary—an intelligent algorithm that anticipates what you need before you even know you need it,” he affirms, hinting at revolutionary concepts like voice-powered shopping and immersive virtual reality experiences that will change the way consumers interact with their brands.
“Brilliant thinking is rare, but courage is in even shorter supply,” he muses. It is this blend of vision and tenacity that positions BuyBox as a formidable contender in the future of digital commerce.
Putting Customers First
In a world filled with complexity, Lee reminds us of the essence of meaningful experiences in business: “Start with the customer in mind, not a business plan.”
As BuyBox continues to thrive, it stands as a testament to what can happen when you create something that people believe in—a movement shaping the future rather than following the trends of the past.
