While the growth of ecommerce exceeds inflation and companies such as Amazon and Mercado Libre continue to capture land, many players from the local scene look with great interest at the portion of the cake that so far no one can snatch from these giants.
Sales in stores are falling and hundreds of stores have already had to lower their blinds, forcing companies to take urgent measures of adaptation in their competitive strategy and to take care of an increasingly demanding consumer like never before.
Retail consumption registered a 12.3% fall in November, according to the latest report of the Argentine Confederation of Medium Enterprises (CAME). That month, sales in physical stores fell 8.4%, showing a 2.1% advance in ecommerce.According to the Argentine Chamber of Electronic Commerce (CACE), the online channel carried out operations for just over $ 152,000 million, a figure that represents an increase of 56% compared to the same period of 2018.
Accenture's Technology Vision 2019 study realizes that retail is migrating to personalized and on-demand experiences. Juan Morita, Executive Director of the consulting firm, assures iProUP that the retail and consumer goods sector will change much more in the next 10 years than in the last 40.
At the time of putting figures to the matter, from the consultant Global Ayden they affirm: "The retail sector loses about 3,300 million dollars worldwide every year. The future goes through implementing solutions of unified commerce, omnichannel, and for the Satisfactory customization of the shopping experience. Only then will you avoid losing hundreds of millions of dollars annually. "
In this context of strong changes, a single word emerges as the responsible: digitalization. "It has already begun to help companies around the world to realize their business strategies. This digital wave can generate an accumulated value of US $ 3 billion in the next five years for the retail industry," said Accenture.Digitalization, allied against the crisisThere are many chains of appliances that, affected by the change in consumer habits and the fall in consumption in their physical spaces, must be reinvented.
The income of Ribeiro, for example, precipitated in half in just one year, which led the company to request a crisis prevention procedure. On the other hand, as other players have been doing, it advanced in the closing of branches or in the reduction of surfaces.
In return, it registered an important growth of its e-commerce channel, which already represents 30% of its turnover and one of the few units that yields a positive balance.
Walmart is another player who was forced to close several of its physical branches and boost omnichannel. That is, the integration of all its existing channels so that a customer who initiated a communication (or a purchase process) through one of them can continue it in another.
"The focus is on innovating and improving the shopping experience," says Matías Grondona, Commercial Director. "A priority is to re-energize our business with the remodeling of stores and incorporating new technologies. Especially, in the line of boxes, to provide speed, effectiveness and time savings," he says.In addition, "we are taking our ecommerce operation to new regions with innovative solutions: from a new app to a" pick it up "service to withdraw online purchases at a branch and without getting out of the car. We also partner with strategic partners to deliveries. Specifically, with Glovo and Orders Now, in order to make shipments more efficient and our ecosystem grow, "Walmart manager tells iProUP.
Javier Cominotti, Marketing Manager of BZA Group, owner of Megatone, assures iProUP that digitalization and online betting is seen by the company as "a great opportunity. These are situations in which the market is reconfigured and gives us the possibility to reposition ourselves. "
"The consumer becomes more demanding. The customer journey evolved and as a retail we focus our business model on a 100% omnichannel proposal, so that the customer can choose between any of the physical branches, digital channels or more than 450 Megatone Express points and get the best experience, "says the Megatone manager.
Javier Santi, ecommerce manager of the group, highlights iProUP that developed "the Megatone Express concept through agreements with large marketing channels, working hard in the interior of the country and bringing the proposal to nearby businesses.""This allows us to be present in more than 450 locations in which customers access benefits, both in a variety of items and in price and financing," he adds.
Achieving capillarity, in order to be closer to the consumer, and have good logistics are two key requirements to face the current context. According to Morita, from Accenture, segment leaders are reorienting their physical spaces to gain relevance in the decision-making process of buying people.
They are also changing their operations by using new technologies to meet the public. And migrating from the traditional competitive strategy (buying merchandise in quantities and then selling it in shops) to allow consumers themselves to put together the list of what they want (via orders on the web) and the brands they trust.The marketplace fashion
The rising inclusion of technology in everyday life changes the way people interact and the way they consume. The possibilities of interaction and business acquire new forms thanks to the different models of purchase and sale available.One of the models that gains popularity is the marketplace, which has Amazon and Mercado Libre as its main exponents and role model.
Conrado Marturet, CEO of Aper, who manages the ICBC Mall, where Frávega officiating as a seller, tells iProUP that retailers create this type of platform since it allows them, integrating other products online, to sell more without the additional costs of managing inventories and products.
"The stores sell more items on the Internet than they do physically. Even, certain products belong to the third-party stock which they find more profitable," because they do not immobilize capital, he analyzes. In this way, they reach a more diverse audience with a more varied offer, which improves the possibility of a higher ticket per person.
Another one that was reinvented was Garbarino, based on the "avocado" strategy supported by iProUP: it offers its online and offline sales infrastructure and logistics service to companies that want another window to display their products. That is, it wants to reposition itself as a marketplace and move away from the idea of traditional retail.
To the 180 ° volatile that Garbarino hit is added the change of strategy of Coto, which will launch a new ecommerce proposal that will be complemented with its online channel: Coto Digital. The initiative, which will be called Coto Web, has Mercado Libre as a great contender and aims for the consumer to acquire all kinds of products.
"From the food we already sell in Coto Digital to a car, but with the guarantee, quality, responsibility and service of Coto," they say from the firm. In this way, people will have access to previously unthinkable items for a supermarket.
Official sources of the company emphasize to iProUP that "the digital orientation and its vision in this sense is not to alleviate a consumption crisis but, rather, to adapt to the current times, to new consumers with tastes, preferences and styles of life renewed. "
In this new platform different buyers and sellers will interact with those who have already started conversations. "We have been developing different strategies to achieve leadership in electronic commerce. The objective is to gain even more market share," they stand out from the firm.
"Since the emergence, more than 13 years ago, of the ecommerce platform, the old supermarket paradigm has mutated. This does not imply abandoning physical stores, but other alternatives and functionalities are added to the commercial proposal," they affirm.
Megatone is no stranger to this trend either. "We develop our own marketplace, in which we incorporate new product lines and also have a presence in the other most important marketplaces in the market," Cominotti tells iProUP.
As for the implementation, he says that "after analyzing all the e-commerce platforms, national and international, we opt for in-company development, which allows us to have a great versatility and fast response capacity for a client as dynamic as the of retail in Argentina ".
In addition, Megatone has a fintech leg, along with the Cobro Express payment network, as advanced by iProUP. "We want to be part of the revolution by promoting our consumers to access personal loans for the purchase of products and, shortly, cash loans."The future of retail
For the Walmart executive, "retail has been transforming in recent years due to changing consumer habits. Factors such as proximity, shopping experience and multiple channels, always at the lowest possible price, are key aspects that are being increasingly decisive for our customers. "
"The challenges have to do with keeping up with current trends in online sales, access to social networks and the choice of various digital channels that allow customers to save time and buy anywhere and at any time," complete.Cominotti, from Megatone, says that retail has a great journey ahead, since "many companies that are digital natives have ventured into the physical world to provide a value proposition to their customers."
"We believe that the channel through which the customer is reached is anecdotal: the important thing is that it is appropriate to their requirements. The great challenge will be to interpret the buying behavior and act to achieve the best experience, loyalty and continuity of the consumer," he completes. .
From Coto they see it as a necessity for the generalization of payments to be achieved via a virtual card or wallet, which facilitate digital commerce. "The traditional will not disappear, but will change the formats and omnichannel to serve each client and their preferences," he adds.
Finally, the Accenture executive ensures that retail players will be distinguished by ideas and even bolder technological actions. "They will combine design thinking to create new business models and markets that meet customers' needs in a novel way," he says.A workforce powered by data, knowledge and capabilities will drive the next wave of innovation in retail. Completely new skills and roles will be required.
"That means rethinking how technology can be used to refine talent strategy and re-train the workforce to achieve new growth," concludes Morita.