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The period of the pandemic was agitated by the Luiza stores, which in 2020 went shopping to strengthen its digital operation, from logistics to product offering, through advertising and finance. In total, there were 11 acquisitions. And on Monday the 21st, company announced the largest: paid R $ 290 million for the fintech Hub, which was founded by businessman Carlos Wizard Martins eight years ago.
In an interview with Status, the president of Magazine Luiza, Frederico Trajan, said that the heterogeneous purchasing strategy focuses on a single objective: to conquer the leadership of the Brazilian digital world. “I will not expect a foreign company to be a digital player in Brazil, be it Chinese, Argentine or American,” the executive said, referring to the giants Alibaba. Free market me Amazon.
Read below the main parts of the interview:
How important is Hub for Magazine Luiza’s digital system?
It’s very important. It has access to the Brazilian Payment System (SPB) and also to Pix, since, since July, it has been authorized by the Central Bank as a payment institution. Having this in-house reduces our need to hire service providers, reducing customer friction in operations. This will help both MagaluPay, aimed at the general public, which we launched in July, and Magalu Payments, aimed at the sellers of our [ITALIC]market[/ITALIC], which exists since April. And we will have a team of 250 people added to our team, including 100 developers.
Why is this payment environment so important to the supepp strategy?
Hub fits like a glove into our strategy, as the payment account is a key link in all China’s superapps, such as WeChat, which has WeChatPay, and Alibaba, which has AliPay.
Will this accelerate the growth of Magalu in the area?
Growth at a Chinese pace is already part of our strategy. What we want to increase is the penetration of these services (in people’s life). Today, we have 2 million clients with MagaluPay accounts open, but not all of them are active. The idea is to expand the offer of financial products throughout the ecosystem. It is also an opportunity to monetize and generate more results in all these transactions.
With that, can Magalu help the unbanked?
We already help banks in Brazil, with LuizaCred, we have 4 million cards issued, which is more than Nubank or Carrefour. Hub is a technology company that will connect with both the retail operation and LuizaCred. Will make all this system connection (financial) that we already have, expanding possibilities.
What is the balance of acquisitions this year?
We have five strategic pillars: super application, entry into new product categories, optimized deliveries, exponential business growth, and Magalu’s thinking as a service provider. The 11 acquisitions follow this direction. They are pieces that fit perfectly with this strategy.
With the rise of covid-19, is it difficult to predict the year 2021?
Brazil is volatile in nature. If even the Central Bank cannot predict what will happen, it is not us (who will do it). I have to prepare my team so that we can grow regardless of the setting. A broader business model, for example, reduces risk. And one thing will not change: Brazil has become more digital, but the slice (on sale) increased from 5% to 10% (in the pandemic). It has a lot of room to grow, because in China this percentage is 30%. And we want to be protagonists in digital. I will not expect a foreign company to be a digital protagonist in Brazil, be it Chinese, Argentine or American.
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