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According to figures from the Observatory of Electronic Commerce, e-commerce in Colombia reached nearly 14.6 billion pesos ($ 4.571 billion) last year and grew by nearly 14% . Although the balance is positive, for Jaime Ramírez, country manager of Mercado Libre, penetration of e-commerce remains low compared to other countries in the region.
To change this trend, the spokesperson for one of the country's leading platforms in this category explained in Inside LR (format via streaming La República) how he would develop his business and the new services offered by his payment gateway, Mercado Pago. The main task: to make it a digital bank.
Mercado Libre has just received the green light from Brazil to offer financial services. Will he do it in Colombia?
Yes, our Mercado Pago business unit is responsible for processing transactions. It not only provides services to Mercado Libre, we have more than 6,000 clients and we are the main payment platform in the region. At the end of 2019 or early 2020, our flagship product will be credit, we will offer loans to buyers and sellers.
We will start with the sellers and these credits can be used for working capital. For users, the idea is to offer credit to people who buy according to their consumption habits. For now, they will only be for Free Mercado, sellers and buyers, we will see later if we put them in other markets. It will be between $ 3 million and $ 5 million.
What investments do you have for 2019 in technology and logistics?
For the next year, our main challenge is logistics to speed deliveries and improve delivery rates. We already have our own warehouses in Brazil and Mexico and we are building in Argentina, which should be ready in a few months. We see what we can do in Colombia to speed up deliveries. We know we want to deliver products faster and more reliably.
Where will the money come from to give loans? Will he make an alliance with the banks?
What we want is to democratize the money. Banks are expensive because they have very high defined charges, technology companies have lower costs and can pass a lot of these savings to the user. In Argentina, we charge 0 pesos for transfers between users. In Colombia, the prices are very high, but we have not talked to any entity, the capital we will provide is ours.
Will they work like Nequi?
What we want is to make Mercado Pago a digital bank.
How many transactions and money will e-commerce make this year and in 2019?
In terms of projections, the past year has been good and we expect a 25% closing compared to 2017. Electronic commerce has progressed, especially in recent years. Since 2016, we have recorded growth rates above 20%. This year will not be an exception.
Is this figure low compared to other countries in the region?
At the regional level, we are late and globally. In Colombia, inside the Free Mercado and with some market figures, we estimate that the penetration rate does not exceed 1.5%, which is extremely low. In other countries of the region, more developed in this market, such as Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and even Chile, exceed 3 to 4%.
What will be the impact of the arrival of Amazon on the Colombian market?
When they enter Colombia, they will accelerate the country's e-commerce, which will grow the cake and our participation.
How did the operation of the platform in Colombia unfold in the overall results?
We see steady growth. In the last 12 months in September at the regional level, we sold 330 million products across the region, an annual increase of 37%.
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