business purpose for 2023

Buying online is a habit that Mexicans will no longer eliminate because they obtain many benefits such as saving time and money; However, this does not mean that physical sales will disappear, but that they will be done differently and combining digital with face-to-face, so companies must develop an appropriate omnichannel strategy. The problem is that not all have it yet or it is not well developed.

Víctor Galicia, head of marketing at Openpay by BBVA, explains that currently nine out of 10 customers interact between the digital and physical world to acquire their products. Another 71% do everything online, from researching the product or service to the final purchase, hence the importance of enabling hands-on channels and having adequate synergy.

“There are still many barriers to overcome, especially cultural and educational because many companies, mostly family-owned, are still unaware of e-commerce. The economic issue also stands out, which, analyzing it, 10 years ago was expensive and complicated, but today there are already many options to create the online sales channel, logistics and with alternative payment methods to cash,” he explained in an interview. with The Economist.

Due to the pandemic, the habit of buying online increased, according to data from the Mexican Association of Online Sales in more than 80%, And now that activities have returned to their usual rhythm, what is being preferred is mixing sales in physical stores with those on line.

According to data from the Mexican Online Sales Association, only six out of 10 SMEs sells on the internet, and those that began during the pandemic, were the ones that have remained alive in the face of the crisis.

Galicia indicated that due to the online shopping habits generated in the pandemic, retail chains also benefited, since their sales increased 99 percent.

“Companies must understand that the diversification of people who buy online has grown exponentially, they must be prepared.”

Amphora, success story

One of the companies that has seen the evolution towards digital sales is Amphora Stores, Dedicated to the sale of household products, it ventured into online sales six years ago, with which both its customers and sales increased in a short time.

“Companies have had to adapt to online commerce, from issues with payments, solutions to improve customer experiences and it is there that we are seeing this adoption grow quarter by quarter. You must have both worlds, the physical and digital”, mentioned Manuel Quintana, commercial director of Almacenes Ánfora.

He explained that in his case they started their own portal with the most basic, they did tests and when they perfected, they went to marketplaces like Amazon where they continue to have their sales.

Likewise, they added technological tools to manage their inventory and keep it updated and synchronized, and they implemented a dark storededicated solely to online sales with the aim of dispatching the products immediately once the payment is verified, so customers will have less waiting time to receive their purchase.

Another of the tools that they added is the diversification of payment methods, with which they increased their sales exponentially and each time they incorporated new options into the market.

“By the time we started to diversify payment methods, we grew sales by 42%we were able to have all the possible methods and the more they come out, we like to be adopted because we give the client more possibilities so that they have the last word to pay”.

He added that another of the changes they made to the omnichannel strategy is post-sales service, where possible products that arrive broken or damaged are attended to, immediate attention is given to customers and any questions or comments can be addressed.

Regarding logistics on its website, the work has focused on collaborating with last mile companies to improve the deliveries on timeespecially when fragile items such as glassware are transported, a challenge that has been difficult for the company but which they have known how to work properly.

For Quintana, beyond incorporating the tools and making changes to the business model, the first thing that stores must reflect on is that it is not possible to sell the same even if the same thing is sold, efforts must be reinforced in other areas as they did and always be aligned with the values ​​and vision of the company.

Finally, he considered that the most important thing is give customers confidence and be clear in the way of operating and deliveries, as this will make the brand reliable and with loyal customers.

“Having clear what you want and how you want to do it, is the way in which you can move forward in the development of a strategy omnicanal”, he finished.