36% of Mexican Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the retail sector still do not sell their products online, and The main reason is because of the type of product they sell.although it is also because its business model does not adjust to e-commerce, according to a survey of manufacturers.
However, of this percentage that still does not sell online, 19% said that they are in the process of doing so, due to the importance that this channel has for their future sales, according to the Barometer 2023: SME manufacturers in the Consumer industrymade by the consulting firm GS1 and the market research firm Psyma Latina.
“Although certain challenges prevail in the digitalization of SMEs, a clear trend is observed towards greater adoption of electronic commerce, since Retail suppliers and marketplace sellers know their product and bet on it.”said Simeon Pickers, CEO of Psyma Latina, in a statement.
The areas that businessmen and entrepreneurs consider strengthening their online strategy are business strategies, marketing performance, customer service, logistics, technology and infrastructure, payment methods, funding and investors, omnichannel, legal issues and fraud prevention.
On the other hand, of the SMEs surveyed that already sell online, for 68% it is very important to market their products online. Furthermore, 30% do it to expand their market and 13% because it is the current trend.
René Yamada, Manager of Strategic Planning and Operational Effectiveness at GS1 Mexico, mentioned the challenges that SMEs still face in implementing an e-commerce strategy:
“Businesses are increasingly realizing that selling online is an art. It is not just about uploading a product to the Facebook marketplace or e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Mercado Librethere is also greater complexity, from adopting a new business model and investing in technology to efficiently managing inventories, logistics, distribution, shipping and returns,” he stated.
Of the companies that already sell online, 6 out of 10 do so in marketplaces such as Mercado Libre and Amazon, mainly, followed by Walmart, Shopify, Liverpool and Shopee. Other online sales channels that are next in importance are Facebook, its own website, Instagram and WhatsApp.
It should be noted that TikTok has had great growth as a tool for selling online. 18% of companies said they use this video platform to market their products; This percentage is triple the responses received in the 2022 survey, and it is expected that next year it will be at the same levels as WhatsApp or Instagram.
In addition, 85% of entrepreneurs have optimistic expectations about the future of their businesses in 2024, reflecting a high level of confidence in the economic outlook and their growth potential in an omnichannel environment.
MORE NEWS:
High level Team of young journalists whose objective is to explain the most relevant business, economic and financial news. We are passionate about telling stories and believe in citizen and service journalism.