eCommerce not only involves companies making sales to the end consumer (B2C), but it also opens a great opportunity to work digitally between companies, with suppliers or customers (B2B). As a quarantine trigger, in the wake of the pandemic, companies have been forced to adopt technology solutions and implement eCommerce to continue the business. Aaron Rodriguez, a business optimization expert, explains how a company can take advantage of eCommerce to grow its business like never before.
While transactions through this channel have more than doubled in the last year, this is no guarantee that all brands that have adopted it will survive this new digital age, as this requires structural change, Rodriguez says. “It's not enough to implement a platform or an online store and that's it. Organizations that have been more successful in moving to a digital environment are precisely because they have made real changes in their business model,” he adds.
The expert indicates that this year will see the consolidation of omnichannel and the integration between physical and digital commerce. It is important for brands to be prepared for this. Recent studies suggest that 44% of online shoppers in Peru made their first purchase in the digital channel during the pandemic, and 83% of them plan to continue shopping this way in the future.
However, it has been emphasized that eCommerce not only involves companies making sales to the end consumer (B2C), but it also opens a great opportunity to work digitally between companies, with suppliers or customers (B2B). To take advantage of the boiling of the new digital environment, Rodriguez has suggested some tips of utmost importance.
The first thing is to have digital platforms in both the front-end (user/customer experience) and back-end (support of internal processes of the company). From the order to the request or confirmation of a purchase order must be integrated, to be as efficient as possible.
Many companies still try to do business with the cash payment method when 70% of people use some type of credit or debit card to make online purchases, as it is one of the fastest, most efficient, and safest ways. Fewer and fewer people use digital means to pay in cash. Those who do not implement payment tools of this type will be relegated in the market and will lose step with the competition.
After integrating the buying and selling processes through digital platforms, it is also urgent to digitize the commercial support; administration, accounting, billing, delivery, inventory management, etc. “To boost the company's growth, it will also be necessary to implement electronic invoicing,” Rodriguez suggests. “Not only is it more secure, but it will also save costs and time in accounting processes. In fact, a digital transformation of the entire management of the company is necessary.”
Sharing information online with customers is also a point that should not be overlooked. This year, the way forward for small and medium-sized companies will be to strengthen their relationship as suppliers of companies they are starting or have been working with, where they can really make a successful business. Then, digital sales/purchase channels between companies will achieve greater dynamism if there are automated processes and information sharing between customers/suppliers is achieved online.
“It is important to never forget the importance of training staff,” Rodriguez asserts. “One of the biggest brakes that companies have is that their staff has not been trained on the new digital business model, more demanding of service, sensitive in speed and attention, and product delivery. It must go with a complementary program for staff to adapt to this new e-business model.”
As an expert specializing in providing digital solutions, Rodriguez believes that the goal of using online platforms, electronic invoicing, and other technological tools makes a company more agile, efficient, and profitable in this new reality. The eCommerce has come to be seen as a solution in many countries, and more and more people prefer to use online platforms to be able to stock up with everything they are looking for.
About Aaron Rodriguez
Aaron Rodriguez is an expert eCommerce consultant in Latin America. He helps businesses throughout the region optimize all of their eCommerce operations to increase sales and retain customers, and also has extensive experience in the development of strategic and external alliances to promote departmental and organizational objectives. He has traveled extensively throughout Latin America to assist a number of companies and, when he's not traveling, he dedicates all of his available time to his wife and children.
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