Evolution of e-commerce: simpler, faster, more secure

In Colombia, e-commerce has grown to become a vigorous market, growing at around 20% per year. A population of almost 50 million, together with a GDP that, according to the OECD, will be the fastest growing in the region in 2022, outlines an unbeatable scenario for the operations of the sector to continue growing.

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The latest data from the Colombian Chamber of Electronic Commerce (CCCE) endorse this perspective: the entity projects that e-commerce sales will grow 19% in 2022 compared to 40 billion pesos (US$10,000 million) in virtual sales last year, which in turn represented an increase of 40.2% compared to 2019.

“The pandemic caused substantial changes in people’s purchasing habits: millions of Colombians had to transfer their daily activities to the Internet, including basic ones such as going to the supermarket. First, it was a barrage of e-commerce sites launched at any cost. in the face of the emergency of confinements, then the phenomenon managed to sustain itself and scale, while the challenge of the moment is to innovate with the perspective of putting the customer experience at the center”explains Adriana Gamba, Founding Partner and Country Manager of Brandlive Colombia, a company specialized in high-impact digital commerce, with more than 15 years of experience in Latin America.

Brandlive by Infracommerce, is the digital commerce company that, first in Argentina and later in the region, imposed the concept of Seamless Digital Commerce -digital commerce without problems-.

“As it scales, electronic commerce becomes, on the one hand, more technologically complex, but as part of its need to satisfy ever-increasing demands for satisfactory experiences, which have to be compulsorily simple, flow without any problem at the same time as transparent and robust”, Gamba warns.

Anyone who wants to sell online today must think, in parallel, about issues that go far beyond setting up a page: at the same time, they must establish the payment method and the delivery methods of the product, with its preparation, the interactions of the process with information on stock in the different stores and warehouses of the brand, delivery times, distances, type of packaging, exchange, returns, post-sale inquiries, among others.

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Brandlive’s function is to simplify the entire network of tasks that make up the purchase process. “We have to make it easy” affirms the executive, who has a vast trajectory in the ecosystem, where she plays the role of founder of the operation and currently works as Country Manager in Colombia.

Brandlive began its operations in Colombia in 2017, as part of the company’s expansion process, which was also projected in Chile and Peru, markets in which it also offers companies “solutions to improve your customer experience and optimize your digital business channels”, Gamba points out.

As part of this growth process, Brandlive, together with Summa Solutions, joined Infracommerce, the Brazilian giant that went public last year and together now make up the largest ecosystem to operate digital strategies in the entire region.

According to Gamba, the Colombian market is maturing by leaps and bounds and that growth challenges brands to ensure that their e-commerce websites have integrated CX and UX to create an experience that attracts and, above all, makes buyers loyal, improving their conversion rate.

“They need to make sure their online stores are optimized for a memorable experience, which fundamentally means simple, fast and secure”he adds.

In Colombia, Brandlive works with brands such as MDLZ (B2B), Asics, Alfa, Novarix, Philip Morris, Diageo, Black & Decker, Remington, Blush Bar, Blind, Cromantic, Ilko, Tuiss, Tugo, Rubermaid, Decorceramicas among others. In 2019, Brandlive Colombia was chosen as the best online marketing agency in e-commerce and internet business, in the e-commerce Awards that were held that year.

The company’s local operation closed 2021 with a turnover of $10,150 million pesos, a figure that it plans to raise to $11,500 million in 2022. Among its objectives for the next period is to increase the number of Fullcommerce accounts (where Brandlive performs the tip At the end of the operation, from the moment the client confirms the purchase on the site until the product is delivered to their home, accompanying them in their entry and growth in the full e-commerce, “One of our objectives is to continue building and training talent in e-commerce, increasing the current team of collaborators from 80 to 90. In addition to this, we will continue our plan to work hand in hand with the different universities and SENA looking for talent to train and grow through their business practices”, says the executive.

The mission of making electronic commerce easier is complemented, in turn, with a philosophy that starts from the idea that “instead of sellers and buyers, what connects from one side to the other in the e-commerce purchase process are brands and ‘lives’: that’s why we like to say that ´we bring brands to life and carry brands to the ‘lives’”, Synthesize Gamba.

“Our focus is on excellence in how we implement highly complex and large-scale projects generating the best digital and physical experiences,” concludes.