How EBANX potentialize retail marketplaces in Latin America by aligning local business expertise to an end-to-end payment processing

Latin America is facing a new era for online retail marketplaces. The rapid growth of the market which follows an increasing digital savvy population and mobile phone penetration has gained the attention of global and local marketplaces.

However, whenever a retail marketplace taps the Latin America market, the challenges are more than just language and local culture barriers. Knowing how to deal with the large unbanked population that depends on alternative payment methods (APMs), laws and regulations, currencies, fraud risks, settlements as well as conciliation and reconciliation processes, it is mandatory.

Although competition is fierce, enabling the full potential of a retail marketplace by boosting revenue’s growth and increasing approval rate by order levels in almost 100% seems incredible right?

So, in this article, we will explain how a large real native experience in dealing with the customer’s behavior and local sellers can provide what a retail marketplace needs in a payment solution and much more.

Sit back and enjoy the reading!

Latin America – the place most retail marketplaces wants to be

Many global marketplaces are flocking to Latin America (LATAM), and some of them are already adopting hybrid operations to compete with local titans. Although the competition in the retail marketplace industry is fierce, the potential of the market is undeniable.

Besides its huge population (633 million people) LATAM registered USD 83,630,000.00 in online retail purchases in 2020. In 2021 the retail market grew 40%, reaching USD149.7B in 15 Latin American markets, according to AMI. Smartphones have also contributed to a more digital savvy behavior from Latin Americans. They accounted for 72% of all mobile connections in the region and the share is expected to increase to 81%t by 2025, as predicted by Statista.

So, to take part in this growth, a few challenges must be considered. Even though all countries in the region speak Spanish, in spite of Brazil (which speaks Portuguese), each country has countless particularities in regards to their consumption culture. These particularities include laws and policies, local currencies, payment methods, fraud risks, flag rules, issuing banks, domicile payments, settlement, conciliation and reconciliation processes.

The region, moreover, has also faced many crises throughout its history and has a large unbanked population (almost 70% by 2019) which relies on alternative payment methods (APMs) that has a lack of trust in local institutions.

On the other hand, the digital revolution that was already happening in the market kept increasing the number of disruptive business models and fintechs, including EBANX. The company brought all its experience in dealing with the above mentioned challenges, while enabling a retail marketplace’s full potential through a set of services that are more than just a marketplace payment gateway.

EBANX – A truly native company with large local expertise

EBANX is a real native Latin American fintech company founded in Brazil that has been connecting Latin American consumers to retail marketplaces since 2012. Global giants such as AliExpress, Shopee, Shein, Wish, Urbanic and GearBest, and local titans such as Magazine Luiza and Lojas Americanas in Brazil are some of EBANX clients, which also provides services for small and medium businesses.

In terms of business operational models, EBANX has also a deep expertise in attending local, global and a new trend in LATAM which is having hybrid payment operations. Shopee and AliExpress are two examples of these hybrid models, which are operations that allow them to expand their local seller portfolio, adopt prices in local currency, while localizing marketing and branding strategies. Consequently it allows these multinationals to compete with local retail marketplaces and grab a new market share.

On the other hand, hybrid operations have also been adopted by local marketplaces, which are increasingly investing in international offerings. Domestic retailers such as Americanas, Via Varejo, and others in Brazil are launching their own “international shelves”, bringing international sellers to their marketplaces.

So, you might be asking, what a retail marketplace will find at EBANX?

• +112 million buyers across LATAM and growing
• +30,000 Brazilian companies
• +1,600 global companies processing with EBANX
• +100 payment methods available for a merchant to offer its shoppers which includes APMs that are locally popular
• 40 different processors across LATAM
• Operations across several countries in Latin America
• Pioneer in LATAM Hybrid Payments
• Solutions: Local & Cross Border Payment Operations and Smarter Payout
• Broadest set of Payments and Digital Commerce Solutions
• Trusted by Enterprise Iconic & Fast-Growing Global Retail & Marketplace Companies In DNA and more than 10 years transforming the latin payments market

At the end it is not all about payment processing and we will show you why.

Why is EBANX the right partner for any Retail Marketplace?

As it was mentioned previously, retail marketplaces need a real partner in LATAM to remove all growth barriers, but also a top-notch payment solution that has the ability to deal from small amounts to thousands of daily transactions, increase marketplaces payment options, fulfill national and international seller registrations, and many other processes. So, that’s exactly what EBANX is able to do.

First of all, there are no other service providers that have this unique expertise of the Latin American retail marketplace segment. So, delivered by a team of local specialists dedicated to increase and optimize customer’s performance, a merchant has access to a one-stop-payment solution that fits any business model (local, global or hybrid) on a high-performance retail marketplace platform, which is flexible and convenient to integrate.

Single hybrid transactions and split payments as a differentiator

EBANX has an hybrid single transaction feature along with a split payment option, that enables a retail marketplace, for example, selling goods from local and cross-border sellers at the same cart and checkout. So, after a purchase is made, EBANX receives the payment request and splits the value according to its nature (local/crossborder).

It is important to recap that everything is concentrated in a unique platform and payment partner, so there is no need in having third parties and counting on multiple payment industry players.

Smart financial management and safety as a must

Either for new entrants or current players, including local, global or hybrid marketplaces in this market, align protection to performance, and have an exceptional approval rate as well as a chargeback under control is mandatory. So, considering that standard international payment solutions hardly reach 50% of approval in LATAM, EBANX can deliver an outstanding 75%-90% rate.

In order to maximize customer experience and retention rates to consequently optimize cash flows, a strong conciliation information about transactions and payments is provided. Full transparency takes place all along the process which includes an overview of chargeback rates, refunds, fees, and much more.

Thus, by joining that with a localized smart fraud prevention strategy which was designed for the Latin American market, EBANX can generate great results. A giant retail marketplace from Asia, for example, reduced its chargeback ratio from 0.84% in January 2021, to 0.38% only 9 months later. It is also important to highlight that the ratio remained below 0.50% during most of this period.

Additionally, a retail marketplace from Europe almost doubled its approval ratio by order levels (from 21% to 40%) within 6 months, besides offering over 20 payment methods options to their customers.

Offering services beyond payments as a competitive advantage

EBANX is not all about marketplace payments processing, and this is what makes it such an unique partner in LATAM. Among the features a retail marketplace can get, there is a KYC (know your customer) tool, banking as a service and a tracking system for customers to follow up their national and international orders.

By delivering a 24/7 outstanding multi-channel help center support for consumers in their local languages, EBANX also helps the merchant to provide the best shopping experience for its clients. A large multinational retail marketplace, for example, was able to maintain its satisfaction level above 85% even though it increased the number of tickets more than 13 times in one year (reaching more than 30,000 tickets).

From the merchant’s side, furthermore, a strong support is provided, which ranges from local consultancy to payments, besides data-driven teams and a set of tools that works 24/7 to maximize performance.

Finally, if that wasn’t enough, EBANX gives a set of marketing consulting strategies, while also analysing assets such as websites for the merchant. Therefore, it can support, for instance, a retail marketplace in a local campaign for a promotional date, such as Black Friday or 11/11, due to all its truly local experience.

Stop worrying about transactional processes and focus on what really matters

Now you must have a better idea of why EBANX can be the real partner for a retail marketplace in LATAM and what makes us so different from competition. We are able to take your business to the next level in region and make you stop worrying about transactional processes to focus on what really matters: selling.

To sum up, what EBANX provides is more than just payments. So, start your retail marketplace payment processing with a whole set of other services and features at your fingertips.

If you are already an EBANX merchant contact your account manager to get further information.

Willing to have a deeper look in all our solutions for retail marketplaces and how they work?

We have prepared a white paper for retail marketplaces where you can see all detailed information about our solutions and services, along with some interesting market insights and use cases.

Read also:

Payments Flexibility: the future of business in Latin America is hybrid

How to create a fraud prevention strategy in MarketPlaces