Knowing how a piece of furniture will look in a room in the house, how a pair of glasses will fit us or how a personalized piece of clothing will look is something that we would all want to know when making an online purchase, in which, at the time of payingwe do not have the possibility to touch the product immediately, and today it is possible, because new virtual tools allow it.
For that, and because “you have to work the online sales channel as if it were just another store, and very important”, is that Leonardo Álvarez, co-founder of Fenicio, gave a conference on the new tools that companies have available when selling online.
Virtual fitting rooms, custom filters, feature comparers or delivery schedules These are some of the functionalities that ecommerce sites have available, and that some Uruguayan companies already use, he commented in the framework of the Fenicio e-show, organized by Fenicio, an electronic commerce platform focused on retailers, which manages more than 400 online sales channels, in 40 different Uruguayan and regional industries (90% in Uruguay).
Other tools that he recommended to use were Product data sheets in PDF that allow potential customers to have a summary of all the data of each product gathered in one place and at their fingertips.
almost half the country
In 2022, more than 1.4 million Uruguayans made purchases onlineand this year it could be more than 1.5 million, said Álvarez.
Transactions in the sector grew 25% in the last yearand although more and more Uruguayans choose to buy online, consumer trends have not changed much in recent years. Women are still 80% of consumersand the indecision It is a characteristic that can be seen in general in national buyers. Choosing a product, adding it to the cart and not buying it right away is normal, but that could change.
To make the purchase a better experience for users, and also to make sales, companies today have several virtual tools available that they can take advantage of; For example, if a customer does not complete the purchase, the website could send them a notification offering them a discount if they complete the transaction in the next few hours, in order to ensure the sale.
Virtual tours and more
The selection of items according to the space that the client has, virtual tourshe price per square meter, for him assembly of products or by shipping depending on the number of packages, are other options that companies, mainly furniture or decoration companies, have.
These tools would allow, for example, in the e-commerce of a furniture store, to filter products by size and see how they would fit out in a space, in this way potential customers can see which item is best for them from the available catalog. In addition, a tool that allows not only to compare items but also to find substitutes, that is, similar products, can also be added to the platforms.
From Uruguay to the world
Fenicio, a Uruguayan company that works developing e-commerce sites for various brands, has an expansion on its horizon. The company currently operates in Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Peru, said Álvarez, who assured that the next plan is to establish itself “strongly” in Paraguay.
“We are advancing in various tools, such as credit. If we sit still, the speed of the industry passes us by. The main objective we have is to continue being at the forefront and making customers get the most out of this , because we have first world tools in Uruguay”, he highlighted.
In 2018 the platform did business for US$11 million, and in 2022 that figure reached US$80 million. For this year the team hopes to exceed US$ 100 million. The co-founder highlighted the progress and reflected on the progress of ecommerce in Uruguay, “these are Uruguayan companies that sell to Uruguayans,” he concluded.
