On November 27, 2019, SWISSCAM held at the Hilton Hotel its most important event of the year, the Presidents’ Club, an exclusive meeting with presidents and directors of member companies in the Gold and Silver categories. This year, we discussed “The Impact of New Technologies on the Brazilian Economy”. We invited Philipp Povel, Co-Founder and CEO of Dafiti (Latin America’s largest fashion and lifestyle e-commerce group) and Lodovico Brioschi, Co-Founder, COO and CFO of AMARO (Digital Fashion Brand). The table was also moderated by Radio CBN journalist Rosana Jatobá.
Those who have a habit of shopping on the internet certainly know Dafiti and Amaro, as the two retail companies are successful cases of Brazilian e-commerce. Dafiti’s website, for example, receives 2 million hits a day and offers its customers 6,000 product brands.
Despite the success of both companies, the Brazilian market presents some peculiarities and challenges. The disadvantage in technological advancement is one of them. According to Philipp Povel, the rate of Brazilians who shop online is only 4.5%. “E-commerce in Brazil still has low penetration, but it is an area with great potential. Unfortunately, we are lagging behind other countries. In Southeast Asia, for example, people have more access to smartphone devices, which directly impacts sales. In Brazil, mobile purchases are below 70% ”. Philipp Povel added that the quality of the internet connection also affects sales. “Every second the site takes to respond to an action, our conversion rate drops from 10% to 30%. That has a huge impact. ”
The purchase payment is also decisive and new technologies emerge to facilitate e-commerce performance. “Dafiti follows the innovations in fintechs. We see a lot of potential in Wallets like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay etc. But here in Brazil, the credit card is still the most used, besides the bank slip, because there are many Brazilians who do not have a bank account or have a dirty name. Dafiti will also test the postpaid purchase, the so-called cash in delivery, where the customer pays for the direct purchase with the courier.
Lodovico Brioschi highlighted how the development of Artificial Intelligence allows us to know the behavior of customers through data analysis. “Knowing the history of our customers is important to us because we can analyze which clothes are selling the most and which products are getting the most returns. Plus, it’s a way for clothing designers to know which clothing models to design, which fabrics to use, and the right volume of production. It turns out to be more sustainable too, because we have less waste. ”
The issue of sustainability was much debated at the event and technological innovations appeared as the main point for the fashion industry to waste less, especially in the stage of clothing production. Lodovico Brioschi shared his experience in this case, as Amaro has its own manufacturing: “Each piece of clothing needs an average of three prototypes before it is ready. Now we make 3D prototypes, which gives us a sense of the end result and reduces waste with proofing. ”
Our guests shared with the audience many other experiences and were very optimistic about the future of the Brazilian economy. They also pointed out that companies wishing to stay in business will have to be open to change and invest in new technologies. “It is impossible to predict the human mind and the future, but disruptive innovations are necessary,” said Philipp Povel.
We appreciate the support of Gold members: ABB, Clariant, Curaprox, Atlas Schindler, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, Nestlé, Novartis, Philip Morris, Roche, Syngenta and Zurich Seguros.
Special thanks to Victorinox who offered us the giveaways of the event.
Photos: Carolina Luz
