B2W will offer credit to marketplace sellers.
In the 12 months leading up to June of this year, sales on B2W's marketplace totaled 5,89 billion reais, with virtually all of that amount being discounted for the seller in the form of receivables anticipation, according to Abrate.
(Reuters)- B2W Digital will begin offering loans to sellers connected to its marketplace, thus expanding financial services aimed at fostering working capital for entrepreneurs and partner companies to increase sales on the platform.
The financing will be done through a partnership with the credit fintech Money Plus, which will be the financial institution involved in the operation. In addition to the marketplace, which brings together the sale of third-party products on its system, B2W owns the online brands Submarino, Americanas.com, Sou Barato, and Shoptime.
“We bring together all our operational expertise. I know the seller's behavior within my platform, how much they sell, how they sell, whether they are growing, whether they are stable,” B2W's CFO and Investor Relations Director, Fabio Abrate, told Reuters. The product, called Credit Seller, complements the receivables anticipation and expands the range of financial services offered to sellers on the B2W platform.
In the 12 months leading up to June of this year, sales on B2W's marketplace totaled 5,89 billion reais, with virtually all of that amount being discounted for the seller in the form of receivables anticipation, according to Abrate.
Once the credit is approved, the limit will be determined based on sales history, and payment will be made through a deduction from the amount B2W pays the seller twice a month.
Last year, marketplace sales represented 35 percent of B2W's gross merchandise volume (GMV), and the company, which competes with companies like Mercado Livre and Magazine Luiza, expects to end this year with more than 50 percent. Abrate did not give projections for the marketplace's share in the coming years, but said that the expectation is for continued growth.
In the second quarter, B2W's marketplace GMV, an index that encompasses total sales in the area, grew 85,3 percent year-on-year to 1,5 billion reais, equivalent to 47,2 percent of the company's total GMV.
Among the initiatives to boost these numbers, B2W is holding Seller Day this Wednesday, an event that brings together sellers, suppliers and strategic partners, with a focus on Black Friday sales, a promotional event held at the end of November.
B2W expects 3 people at this Wednesday's Seller Day, up from 1 registered at last year's event and also higher than the 1.500 people received at the Seller Day held in April of this year, which did not focus on Black Friday.
In addition to Credit Seller, B2W will also use the event to announce the possibility for sellers to boost their offers through the company's own AME Digital payment account. The service, launched in early June, offers consumers discounts in the form of credit that is stored in digital accounts and can be used for new purchases on the B2W platform.
"We will allow sellers to boost their promotions on Black Friday," said Abrate, explaining that sellers will be able to increase the discount offered by the platform or increase the number of installments for payments.
With these initiatives, B2W hopes to increase Black Friday sales compared to last year, when sellers connected to its marketplace platform saw sales 20 times higher than on "a typical strong sales day".
In April, the company announced the availability, free of charge until the end of the year, of 105 square meters in a distribution center in Itapevi (SP) for sellers connected to its platform and, according to Abrate, almost the entire area is occupied.
"It's practically full, and we're evaluating the possibility of having another distribution center dedicated to the marketplace," said the executive, adding that there's still no decision on the matter.
Still in an effort to engage sellers, B2W will present at the event the development of the Seller Index, a tool to evaluate operational indicators of sellers connected to its platform, such as on-time delivery and complaint levels.
"The better the Seller Index, the better positioned the seller will be and the more visibility they will have," he said.
By Flavia Bohone