Plataforma Vixe Delivery: análise multidimensional de viabilidade, modelagem tecnológica e desafios de fidelização de empresas em mercados interioranos

Abstract

This work reports the practical experience of designing, developing, and deploying a digital delivery platform in small municipalities in the interior of Piauí, Brazil — Juazeiro do Piauí and Castelo do Piauí — through the case study of Vixe Delivery. Unlike large urban centers, where platforms such as iFood and Rappi have consolidated the digital intermediation model between merchants, couriers, and consumers, small interior cities remain largely excluded from this phenomenon due to specific technological, cultural, economic, and regulatory barriers. Drawing on platform economics and two-sided market theory (Rochet and Tirole; Evans and Schmalensee; Parker, Van Alstyne, and Choudary), the study describes the system's development process — including its software architecture —, the strategy adopted to overcome the chicken-and-egg problem of simultaneous merchant and consumer adoption, and the legal challenges faced, particularly the improper classification of digital intermediation activity as commercial representation under Brazilian Law No. 4,886/65. The study also analyzes the impact of new labor regulations on digital platforms and the factors that led to the shutdown of the operation, including insufficient revenue relative to fixed infrastructure costs and the asymmetry of legal risk between small regional operators and large national players. The study concludes that the main barriers to the interiorization of digital delivery in Brazil are not technological but cultural, economic, and regulatory, and offers a practical reference for entrepreneurs seeking to operate in similar markets.