The governments pass, the names of the presidents and their political parties change, but what is not modified is the passion of the Argentineans for the dollar. So much so that, just after the October elections, the Central Bank had to harden the stocks even harder.
Already without having at hand the possibility of satiating green bills (they can barely buy $ 200 per month) and in the context of an inflation that does not give truce, a good part of society has gone out to look for offers and freeze prices from fixed fees.
In this context, ecommerce is presented as the most convenient option to compare quotes and seek the best financing: "The Argentine has already learned that this channel is a profit space, to get better prices and ease of purchase," says Julieta iProUP Dejean, Director of the Insights Division of Kantar.
The executive recalls that Argentines are already experts in crisis management and in different ways to find the best way to safeguard their money or, failing that, to lose as little as possible: some advance consumption, others are stocked and are those who had already planned to acquire a good or a dollarized service that is quoted in pesos and choose to take some bills from the mattress and sell them in the blue circuit.
Electronic commerce has been dodging the economic crisis, and this is clearly reflected in its remarkable growth: in the first six months, $ 153,000 million was billed through this channel, a figure that marks an increase of almost 60% compared to the same period of 2018.
Not only that, from eMarketer they point out that Argentina is the eighth country in the world with the best growth rate in online sales (about 19%). And, in Latin America, it is only surpassed by Mexico (35%).
Financial services + online product sales
Seeing such performance, banks do not want to miss the opportunity, so they are replacing their classic brochures with product offers (which they sent together with the summary) with their own powerful marketplaces. Beyond generating loyalty, it generates a New source of income and more synergy with your financial packs.
By virtue of this, there is a growth in the alliances of financial institutions with technology companies. Basically, the contribution made by each part is as follows:
- The first (banks) already have their public, the financing in installments and the system of benefits (points)
- The second (technology firms) offer the sales platform and sellers (such as Sony, Frávega, Megatone, Despegar, Newsan, Ribeiro, among others)
Thus, joining forces, they are able to advance in a strategy of the "Free Market" type.
Conrado Marturet, CEO of Aper, a firm that developed and manages the marketplaces of ICBC, Supervielle, Petersen Group and Columbia points out that sales on these platforms tend to skyrocket when the public detects that advancing consumption and buying in 12 or 18 installments is business. For example, just a devaluation that has not yet been transferred to prices in pesos.
"With uncertainty, with the dollar and interest rates, people go out to buy goods or services before they increase," he reveals to iProUP. In the same direction, Daniel Jejcic, CEO of Avenida +, a technology firm dedicated to the development of integral online sales solutions that works with BIND, Macro and Ciudad banks.
Remember that as soon as the PASS elapsed, a devaluation ensued and that caused sales in some marketplaces to skyrocket up to 300%, given the greater fear of many Argentines of a cut in financing at those terms. "There were suppliers who did not know whether to adjust or not, because it was very fast," he says.
To put figures into the matter, from BIND they reveal that TiendaJúbilo (its marketplace) has a sales volume of between $ 20 and $ 30 million per month, with about 3,000 transactions per month, between product marketing on that platform and cash loans, with a portfolio of more than 25,000 active clients.
"We hope to continue growing, regardless of the political situation in our country, working to provide the best service to our customers," says Ramón Menalled, CEO of the platform.
Turnkey strategy
"The marketplace is an ecosystem that evolves and allows, in the case of banks to go beyond their financial borders. That is, in addition to giving plastics, granting loans and selling insurance, they can venture into the retail business. In this way , they offer a more complete service to their customers, "explains Jejcic.
Avenida +, one of the companies that develops marketplace for banks, uses artificial intelligence platforms to provide benefits, in prices and financing, aimed at each individual client. The use of machine learning allows you to propose tailored offers according to the profile of each user.
"In addition to cash credits, we offer a wide range of appliances and technology items in our marketplace, which is TiendaJubilo," says Menalled of BIND. And he adds: "The differential with respect to competition is that it is phygital. That is, an ecommerce designed especially for older adults, which is oriented to financing plans and provides home delivery services."
With a "white label" format, the Avenida + tool is based on a fairly simple process when implementing a marketplace: "We integrate all payment methods, the link with card providers, logistics, gamification rules and point systems, "reveals the firm's executive.
Meanwhile, the CEO of Aper (partner of the ICBC Mall) adds that his company also deals with the after-sales process and service of online stores. "For banks, these kinds of solutions have a lot of value: they have the money, the data, the trust and the digital information. So, it makes sense that they add spaces and platforms on which they can use those assets so that their customers buy items and access preferential financing ".
On the side of sellers, large companies and entrepreneurs achieve greater visibility of their products and high traffic of potential buyers. But they are not the only advantages of getting on the bank marketplace: the great benefit is that the vast majority offer the possibility of interest-free installments, which are the big drivers of sales.
To determine the ability to "buy" consumers and analyze where it is appropriate to focus on attracting more public, there is no single formula that works for everyone. What is observed is a constant: "Everything must be focused on providing the best user experience. That is the key," they shoot from Aper.
Guillermo Tolosa, CIO and member of the ICBC Executive Committee, argues that to improve the experience of its customers when they browse the page or wish to buy, the bank has focused on the quality of services. For that he carried out a series of concrete measures with which he sought to make a difference.
The result is in sight: from the entity they expect that the ICBC Mall store will end the year generating revenues for a whopping 2,000 million pesos. In other words, the rebound in this channel has been such that marketplaces became a business in themselves.
"As a technological tool, we help with the creation of strategies and put them at the height of what is coming. Giving tools to banks is necessary and generates positive feedback because many things are changing in the financial ecosystem," says Jejcic.
Looking ahead, BIND seeks to consolidate growth in this sector and become a reference not only for traditional banking but also for retail, both for its customers and occasional consumers.
"We are currently present with the physical store in the main branches of BIND and we intend to expand them to the rest of the network. We started conversations with other important entities that pay pension funds to be able to develop the model beyond the borders of the Industrial Bank", concludes the CEO of TiendaJúbilo.
