E-Commerce: The New Name of the Game

EITAN SHOVAL

CEO & Partner

In recent months, those who had their digital economies up and running were singing victory, announcing sales increases of 5 to 20 times more than expected, with significant growth in these channels. Meanwhile, those who believed that this was part of a distant future rushed to set up their online business, only to realize that, as with everything else, starting a new business requires planning, time, resources, and, especially, agility to make decisions.

Thus, marketing, innovation, and sales teams that had invested in this topic years ago were applauded and carried on the shoulders of managers and shareholders, while those who had not were looking for ways to do it quickly, faced with the accelerated change in consumer behavior and the increase in online sales.

Today, we want to challenge the e-commerce of the present and think that e-commerce, as we know it, belongs to the recent past. Let us understand that the consumption habits of millions of internet users and people’s behaviors have changed forever, bringing with them an accelerated adoption of technology, trust in virtual payment platforms, convenience of buying from home, logistical advances, and improvements in times and costs, incremental consumption of content on digital platforms, and what used to be normal—going out to dinner, shopping in supermarkets, going to the bank to pay the electricity bill—will no longer be so normal for many.

We must quickly prepare to have an omnichannel brand or business that can provide solutions and purchasing possibilities to consumers at all touchpoints, and stop asking ourselves whether we should have an e-commerce or not. The message to everyone is “you better have one” (whether you are a B2C, B2B, or B2B2C company). Beyond e-commerce and the omnichannel nature of the business, we invite you to think more about what we are going to create today in terms of how the consumer is going to buy tomorrow: buying always and from anywhere, at any time.

Let’s prepare for what many call total commerce or commerce everywhere. We leave you some recommendations to create your e-commerce of the future, your total commerce:

Define the business plan including value proposition, financial projections, and scalability.
Define product strategies, margins, and channels: e-commerce, social, marketplaces, stores…
Choose technology that meets the needs of the new and current business: e-commerce platform, payment systems, and internal and external integrations.
Structure operations for logistics management, inventory management, shipping, delivery experience, and return policy.
Marketing, content, communication, and customer service strategy.

Let's get ready for what many call total commerce or commerce everywhere.

Eitan Shoval

With over 18 years of experience in business strategy, finance, and operations, working with major regional banks in Latin America such as Banco Pichincha, the Gilinski Group, and one of the top 20 car dealers in the United States, South Motors, with sales exceeding $1 billion.
Today, he leads Asylum Marketing and serves as the COO and CFO of the CommerceTech company smartBeemo. Together, we have more than 600 direct and indirect collaborators in the region, with offices in Miami, Mexico City, Panama, Cali, and Bogotá; and strategic partners in over 15 countries to handle projects throughout the Americas.
In his leadership role at both the Agency and smartBeemo, he ends up wearing many hats and taking on responsibilities that include strategy, sales, client development and relationships, product development, innovation, finance, treasury, accounting, operations, human resources, legal, tax matters, and everything related to business development and growth.