Electronic commerce had been prevailing among Argentines since the economic crisis. But the quarantine imposed after the coronavirus outbreak strongly boosted online sales, with collapsed supermarkets and shipments delayed by weeks.
One of the most benefited was Mercado Libre, which, as iProUP announced, hastened the launch of its SuperMercado Libre section with warehouse, hygiene and cleaning products at strong discounts.
But the unicorn offers companies of all sizes another comparative advantage: official stores, to directly offer their products, maintain a closer relationship with consumers and they know that the items come from a "reliable source".
Currently, there are nearly 1,000 official stores on the website, including automakers, apparel brands, electronics manufacturers, appliance chains, and mass-consumption giants. The message seems clear: if large or small firms are not in Mercado Libre, "they do not exist" or, at least, they risk losing a large volume of sales.
"More and more, of all sizes and sectors, are betting on this online platform to expand their businesses, get closer to their users and be at the forefront of a world that is advancing between digital transformations. The official Market stores Free are the opportunity to achieve it ", assure iProUP from the unicorn.
Unlike a standard account, this modality offers publications from a person or a group of them that have the permission to manage a certain brand. In fact, in order to have the official store label, they must ensure that they have the manufacturer's authorization to sell their products.
The ecommerce platform offers different alternatives to start selling. The process is simple and consists of very simple steps. In the case of an individual:
- First, you must enter the Create your account tab, located in the upper right margin of the site.
- After completing the personal information (name, surname, email and password), you can start buying and selling through the platform
In the case of a company:
- You will have to click on Create a company account - Then, you must enter CUIT number, company name, email and password
- Finally, to create the official store, you must contact Mercado Libre and start the approval process
One of the benefits that the ecommerce giant proposes to companies with an official store is to absorb up to 50% of the cost of shipments. In addition, if sales exceed certain predetermined amounts, they enjoy significant discounts.
There is no additional cost to participate in this program (membership is not paid). Simply, the company must meet certain requirements and authorization to be able to sell a brand as "official". The commission you must face can be classic or premium (the latter offers the possibility of accepting fees).
However, those who wish to open an official store in Mercado Libre must have an acceptable number of visits from users interested in their products and reference brands in the field in which they operate.
"For Mercado Libre, user experience is essential, so we want everyone who operates on our platform to also provide an excellent user experience," iProUP told the company.
Building on the Mercado Libre ecosystem, there are companies that help merchants sell more. One of them is AlephCRM, a cloud platform that connects brands, factories, wholesalers, and retailers to improve management.
This firm offers its services throughout Latin America for those who lack the capacity for direct marketing to the consumer and its business model is based on physical sales channels.
"We give him a tool to create his catalog, put prices, stock and integrate it into his management system," Gastón Zelerteins, CEO and co-founder of the company, told iProUP. According to the executive, there are three ways to operate in the official store in Mercado Libre:
1. - The brands that invoice directly to the final consumer. They dispatch and take care of the delivery
2. - Multiseller official stores. The brand (eg Adidas) generates the official store but does not sell direct but invites authorized channels (eg Dexter, Sportline, ...)
3. - The brand (eg Adidas) sells direct but uses authorized channels (for example Dexter) as points of withdrawal of the merchandise by the final consumer.
The AlephCRM rate also features an innovative model: Retailers pay a fixed price ($ 1,800 to $ 14,400), based on their sales volume. Meanwhile, manufacturers or wholesalers must pay $ 20,000 per month.
According to the company, the companies that started working with the platform increased their turnover by an average of 440% year-on-year.
Many companies and ventures achieved a substantial turnaround in their billing by joining Mercado Libre with their official stores. Even some that have never dabbled in online sales.
According to the unicorn, the categories tires, automotive, auto parts, motorcycle parts, tools and construction materials report an accelerated growth; while the pharmacy, bookstore and alcoholic beverages sector show a promising projection.
Bridgestone, for example, opened an official store that offers two possibilities: home delivery or pick-up at a dealer in its network, where placement, alignment and balancing are also offered free of charge. "In addition to selling online, we generate movement towards stores as an added value, working as a marketing strategy," says the CEO of AlephCRM.
For its part, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has two official stores: Fiat Mopar, an after-sales service unit that connects its dealers as withdrawal points; and JEEP, through which it includes its commercial chain.
"The model directly includes our entire network of official Fiat and CJDR dealers (Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, RAM) as delivery points throughout the country, which gives the customer a differentiated value proposition compared to our competitors", Guillermo Mancini, from the Mopar Marketing team, tells iProUP.
Tommasi is a company dedicated to the import and sale of auto parts that decided to launch its online strategy. It has a permanent stock of more than 9,000 products, for which it works with different suppliers.
"The modernization of the auto parts trade is a fact and is within the reach of anyone who understands the trends and impact of technologies," says Guillermo Tommasi, president of the firm.
FV brands, taps; and Ferrum, of toilets, started in 2018 with a new strategy focused on supporting their distributors who operate in Mercado Libre.
To do this, they generated digital catalogs following the operating guidelines of the platform. Adding the maximum amount of information made the generated publications have a better ranking and the sellers increased their commercial performance.
The one of toys and articles for babies is a segment that found in ML a great opportunity for growth as well. The family business CityKids has 10 physical points of sale and two online: its own website and Mercado Libre.
"It was a before and an after", highlight iProUP from the company, present on the platform since 2010. Although it already had some experience in ecommerce, 90% of sales moved to the new platform.
The CityKids numbers since its arrival at Mercado Libre are overwhelming: during the first year on the platform, its turnover grew 50%. And between 2017 and 2016, success was consolidated with an advance of 60%. This meant changes in the company to the structure, to assign exclusive personnel and to be attentive to each innovation of Mercado Libre.
For his part, Alejandro López, Sales Manager of Carestino, another brand of baby items, reveals to iProUP that he joined Mercado Libre in 2014: "It was the most effective buying and selling tool and gave us the possibility to start connecting with consumers quickly. "
"Although today it does not have the same weight for us, it allowed us to quickly position ourselves as a benchmark in the field in terms of product quality and price," he adds.
In the area of fashion, Foreign Legion, a brand of backpacks and accessories created by the sisters Sara, Agustina and Victoria Estrada, was associated almost from the beginning with the unicorn. It was the first to open a cash free & paperless store in Argentina in association with Mercado Pago.
In addition, the company was a vital partner of the entrepreneurs: it granted them a credit of $ 1.2 million to expand their stock on the platform and today they invoice $ 20 million a year.
Within the household appliances category, one of the first to move to Mercado Libre was BGH. "The official store allows us to have a more ordered offer to the consumer, it is a space where you can explore, compare, evaluate and buy our products," Santiago Martínez, Director of Sales for the brand, tells iProUP.
According to Martínez, "this clarity in the proposal is also important for cross-channel sales. More than 80% of our consumers consult prices, characteristics and references online before buying."
Finally, other items that grow in the ecosystem are bookstores. Staples has been selling on Mercado libre since 2020 as "an additional sales channel, to unpack products that had a certain complexity of selling direct B2B (sales to other companies)", entrusts iProUP with Lisandro Medina, Manager of Business Intelligence and Pricing at Staples Argentina.
"Today it is part of our omnichannel strategy to reach all consumers the way they want and especially for our B2C (sales to final consumers) public," concludes the executive.