In Uruguay there are more than 1.2 million people who have ever made purchases through the internet, according to data from Grupo Radar's Uruguayan Internet User Profile survey presented in November 2015. This figure is increasing and, in turn, the number of brands that bet on omnichannel and integrate web and physical channels of your company accompanies this growth.
The challenges and opportunities presented by this developing trend were discussed by local and regional e-commerce experts at the fifth edition of eCommerce Day, organized regionally by the Latin American Institute of Electronic Commerce (eCommerce Institute) and locally by the Uruguayan Chamber of Digital Economy(CEDU). Marcelo Montado, president of CEDU, highlighted at the opening of the event the importance that the "gigantic development" of e-commerce coincides with the cooling of the economy and the slowdown in consumption. "Although we are not in the best economic moment, consumer behavior will continue to change. When this situation is reversed, consumers will go online and we have to be prepared," he said.
One of the speakers in the middle of the morning, before starting to talk about the challenges of omni-channeling, asked how many in the audience at the Radisson Hotel only had a business idea, who already had an online channel and who were thinking of launching it soon. The audience's response was fairly even and divided into thirds: almost equal numbers of people were just starting out, consolidated companies that had their online channel or those who were about to launch into the online world.
Online and offline origin
For 100% digital companies, talking about e-commerce is referring to their business itself. This is the case of one of the exhibitors at eCommerce Day, the CEO of TocToc Viajes, Andrés Gil. The company has not yet reached the year of life and emerged directly in the online world, with the sale of package tours via the web. "The industry is immature and there is still a lot to do," Gil said. That's why, he said, there are no magic formulas for success. "The only recipe is to be willing to try and experiment, to look for new things and to poke customers all the time," he said.
For Gil, the key to success in online sales lies in finding what the customer wants and in the specific case of TocToc, developing an optimal after-sales service. Learning to look at the "lights on the road" is vital to survive. The CEO of TocToc Viajes gave as an example to maintain investment in technology as the main way to boost the online sales platform, to carry out email marketing in a smart way and directed to the right customers, and to use the most demanded payment methods.
Meanwhile, the digital director of Argentine women's footwear brand Sarkany, Matias Brass Harriot, said that the company's online channel even surpasses in turnover some of the physical stores. "Online commerce is here to stay and is unbeatable. It is not going to eat the offline, but the change will be profound," Brass Harriot said. As an example, the executive mentioned the case of Amazon, which opened a physical store with the most sold products online.
Allied tools
Attendees were writing in their notebooks all the time, but especially when the speakers presented the current tools that contribute to a better development of the online channel, such as big data, analytics and the mobile world.
For Mercado Libre's senior manager retention of Corporate Marketing, Roman Hughes Stefani, being alert to what is being used worldwide -such as artificial intelligence, big data and programmatic buying- is key. "We have to attract customers with banners targeted specifically to the audience we want to captivate with our store," he said.
On the other hand, the manager of Marketing and eCommerce of Mosca, Pablo Barcelona, finds in the data an ally to improve the customer experience. "It is important to capitalize on micro moments to understand how the customer wants to define the transaction," he said.
Mobile commerce increased 140% worldwide in the first half of 2016 compared to the same period last year, according to a study by PayPal's mobile e-commerce section, presented during the day. The CEO of the company dedicated to email marketing EmBlue, Daniel Soldán, said that it is "crucial" not to lose sight of mobile users.
Source: The Observer
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