The aggressive contraction of the sector forces the retail sector to rethink its strategies. The answers seem to lie in e-commerce. The steps to follow to get on a train that can only grow

The household appliances sector in Argentina is going through the worst crisis and decline in recent years, unlike what happens in the world where the different segments that make it up are more stable. What actions to take in moments of volatility such as those that the country usually goes through, whether due to electoral issues or simply due to its own crises?

It was one of the questions that marked the common thread of the Electronics Home Congress of Argentina, which brought together visitors from different parts of the country and the region, this time in Costa Salguero.

The sector accumulates a drop of 32% in the first half of 2019, according to data from the consulting firm Gfk, in line with those established by INDEC. The decline is even more pronounced if we look at the behavior in dollars, which reaches 48%. The contrast is greater when compared to the situation in the region. While in units, the local decrease is the aforementioned 32%, in Peru it falls 9% and in Chile 1%.

"The sectors that best face the crisis are white goods, air conditioning, due to seasonal issues, and telecommunications. On the other hand, the brown line, with televisions at the top, are the ones that show the worst performance," described Lorena Turano, managing director of Gfk Argentina.

Given this panorama, the internet seems to be the healthiest way out for this sector.
Firstly, because "the online channel shows positive growth. While offline billing fell 2.4%, online grew 43.8%. There is a significant gap, which implies an opportunity for growth in e-commerce. Each online event capitalizes on more users at the base," Turano emphasized.
He was referring, specifically, to the May HotSale and the November/December CyberMonday, and other events that drive sales, such as the first edition of the Electro Fest in 2019. And the reason to bet on that channel is that:
*52% buy online to take advantage of the opportunity, even when it was not in the plans to do so.
*27% would buy the same, regardless of the promotion.
*21% because the promotion made them anticipate the purchase.
Other data from Gfk reinforce this trend and have to do with the user experience when purchasing online.
65% feel more control when faced with the possibility of carrying out an operation online.
23% use product information in advance, compared to 19% who did so in 2017.

Same percentage compares to the articles in conflict:
19% locate the store where the item in question is, whereas before only 11% did so. The same percentages occur among those who verify the availability of the product.
17% spend time rating the purchased product. In 2017 this level reached only 6%, which demonstrates a high interest in obtaining this type of information.
If this is user behavior, how do you introduce changes to the business to respond to that demand? The path is that of digital transformation, a term that first implies a change in the internal processes of any organization.
"Digital transformation is much more than technology, it is a change in culture. And it implies a change that goes from a unidirectional message to a multidirectional one," said Ismael Briasco, director of BigSmart Labs.
"The business chain is no longer about distribution, it is about value, and for that reason we must rely on technology to provide solutions. Especially because e-commerce does not have the same level of maturity throughout the country," explained Axel Demb, head of sales at Nubimetrics.
For the expert, there are many niches of unsatisfied demand when the behavior of sales is analyzed, based on numbers, especially that which is channeled through platforms, such as Mercado Libre. “40% of sales in Mercado Libre are concentrated in normal sellers,” he indicated, which reveals that there are many spaces to address based on the available metrics. These measurements allow you to see the times of day when the greatest visits to a page, or purchases, occur. And also the various actions that the consumer takes when browsing a site.
Electronic commerce in Argentina moved almost $230,000 million in 2018, 47% more than the previous year, according to data from the Argentine Chamber of Electronic Commerce (CACE).

The metrics applied to these numbers allow us to see in which areas these areas do not have as much exposure, or where there is more unsatisfied demand in order to implement a successful commercial strategy.

Rethinking businesses based on new ways of selling and using the metrics and data available today constitute the safest way out for a market that, beyond crises and situations, demands new ways of approaching customers.