Trust, financial education, improved access to the internet and financing, in addition to reducing levels of informality are fundamental pieces for the development and growth of electronic commerce, according to Óscar Herrera Velásquez when describing commercial exchange through screens and social networks.
What changes have occurred in the way we shop in the 21st century?
Commerce has transformed the way goods and services are produced, distributed and consumed. This has meant changes in business models and has opened up more possibilities for exchange at a local and international level. It is an opportunity for companies, which manage to reduce operating costs and have greater production and supply. Electronic commerce allows transactions to be made in real time, payments are made immediately and buyers and sellers benefit. The range of products available is also expanding, and consumer habits are changing. Traditional trade channels have been reduced and more automation is used, and now with artificial intelligence (AI) exchange logistics is easier; Payment systems are increasingly flowing faster and there are more tools for customer service. For companies and people they have been fundamental changes.
What considerations should be taken into account in a strategy aimed at consumer 4.0?
This is the digital consumer, who is increasingly demanding when ordering online; He prefers reliable platforms—Amazon, Temu, others—and, on other platforms that he does not fully trust, he opts for payment on delivery. Companies must approach the virtual consumer by knowing them, for example, by incorporating AI to specifically reach each one with advertising for products that are of interest to them and offer promotions to attract them. Another relevant aspect that companies must achieve is to be reliable and provide security to the consumer, thereby guaranteeing a market niche; In addition, it includes the speed and immediacy of transactions and the delivery of products to the customer’s door. Throughout the entire process, from the sale to what the consumer receives, transparency must prevail.
There is less perception of risk in purchases.
There are always risks, but minimizing them is the important thing, because the person who delivers a food order to our house knows our data, that is, there is no such thing as “zero risk.” In that sense, the consumer looks for companies that offer security. When finding online sales, many times what is done is to look for the reviews that the company has, and with AI, references are quickly found and help to find alerts and make a purchasing decision.
How can companies and entrepreneurs take advantage of online sales?
In Guatemala there are small entrepreneurs who use online sales without having a well-developed platform, but those seeking to sell in international markets must invest in more sophisticated platforms to reach global consumers and internationalize. The ventures are local ones that use social networks such as Facebook or WhatsApp, where they appear as intermediaries or that manage to sell their own products or services on a smaller scale. Of course, to the extent that companies grow and have the capital to incorporate new tools to digitize, they will be able to access other markets. There are larger companies that already participate internationally and access global trading platforms.
Will electronic commerce to access goods and services replace traditional purchases in the country?
The Guatemalan consumer, due to the country’s income level, is considered poor. The type of consumption for 80% of the population is basic, and the average income stratum is very small; Therefore, saying that all consumers need to be online to buy is not a reality, since to buy basic products the majority of the population goes to cantonal markets. The online market for some companies and entrepreneurs targets 18% of the population who are in the middle income stratum. Although there is no accurate data, an estimate is between 20% and 30%, including the lower middle stratum of the population that makes purchases beyond the basics, very sporadically.
What is the expectation in the behavior of electronic commerce in the country?
It is difficult to have statistics, but it can be inferred, from the behavior of Internet access in the country, that the technological gap between urban and rural areas is closing. Also, with the growth of the fintech (financial technology) ecosystem of the financial sector, the behavior of electronic commerce could be inferred. But surveys from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) are missing to know the changes in people’s consumption habits, mainly in the youngest generation of the population.
