In today's Digital Power Houses series, Portada interviewed David Geisen, CEO and Founder of clickOnero, an e-commerce site for discount purchases.
Geisen spoke with Portada about the history of his company, its current status and its future plans, and also talked about the impact it hopes to have on e-commerce in Mexico.
At a Glance:
Company: clickOnero
Business: E-commerce through coupon offers
Offices: Mexico City
Operations: Mexico
Languages: Spanish
Investors: David Geisen, Gonzalo Alonso and a group of Swiss investors
Employees: 100 approx.
clickOnero is a Mexican website that features new offers every day for products and services from different companies. The company was founded in 2010 by David Geisen and Gonzalo Alonso, with financing from a group of Swiss investors who recognized the potential for large market growth in electronic commerce in Mexico. The website was built between July and August by teams of programmers in Germany, Dubai and Mexico, and was launched in September of the same year.
Structure and organization
The Company belongs to Global Buying Group AG, a group that runs similar portals in other Latin American countries. In Argentina and Brazil, the site is called ClickOn, and the company is also present in Australia, Turkey, Switzerland, various Arab countries, India, and Indonesia, among others. According to Mexico CEO David Geisen, each country manages its operations independently.
"Our main office is located in Mexico City, where we employ close to 100 people," says Geisen. In addition to the capital, the company’s in-country operations to date also cover Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Queretaro, Merida and Cancun, with a sales representative in each of these cities. Likewise, the site offers discounts that can be used in any part of the country, such as travel or products that can be sent via parcel service.
Regarding the company’s achievements, Geisen says enthusiastically: "I never imagined that some day we’d sell 60,000 centimeters (almost 24,000 inches) of Subway sandwiches, 7,300 ice creams in one day, or 6,000 tickets to Six Flags amusement park…those are the figures we’ve achieved in the last few months."
E-Commerce Development
Geisen believes that clickOnero is contributing greatly to the development of e-commerce in Mexico, especially by helping people who have never bought anything online to make their first purchase. This is because "the system allows alternative forms of payment, and in this way we are innovating e-commerce and helping thousands of people to give online buying a try," he says.
Marketing Strategy
A big part of clickOnero’s strategy is relying on social networks to publicize its promotions. In fact, the discounts only apply when a certain number of buyers join in, which is why the users are very keen to share them.
Geisen says that the profile of the typical Mexican user who already shops online is 25 to 35 years old, with his or her own income. If we consider the number of people with Internet access who regularly surf the Web, the age of the majority of users drops to between 15 and 25 years, so Geisen sees a clear potential for growth in the coming years when these kids earn their own incomes.
As for working together with digital marketing agencies, Geisen says the company is open to it, including the option of sharing revenue on promotions. "It is important to note that clickOnero does not sell advertising space, but we can arrange promotions."
Goals and Objectives
Future plans in the coming months include the launch of a new smartphone app. "The development of our application is already in the advanced stage. It will be available for IOS and also for Android, and will include geolocation services to show promotions that are available near you. (…) We see great potential in the smartphone and mobile applications market, since more and more people are switching their normal cell phones for phones that can surf the Web and offer applications."
The company also expects to add more destinations, as well as offers. "We will be adding more cities in the coming months. We still cannot say which ones, but they will be in the north and southeast. We will also be offering more travel deals, as we have received much positive feedback from people interested in them."
With a Mexican market showing a growing interest in e-commerce and promotions, clickOnero is making a name for itself in the digital sphere. "A few weeks ago, comScore reported that 1.3 million people in Mexico are already surfing e-commerce sites and that 48% of them visit clickOnero," he added.
