Thoughtworks’ holistic platform approach will help Falabella unlock value of core assets, furthering market presence and customer experience
Falabella Corporate Services India Pvt. Ltd., part of retail giant S.A.C.I. Falabella, South America’s largest integrated retailer partners with Thoughtworks, a global software consultancy to fast track the e-commerce platform of the Falabella Group. The strategic partnership will give Falabella the competitive advantage of a customized, scalable and secure platform that will integrate with existing systems.
In line with the Group’s aspirations of being a formidable digital commerce player in the countries it serves – Chile, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Mexico, Falabella Corporate Services India will drive data-led and personalized customer shopping experiences through Thoughtworks digital platform strategy. The transformative journey will champion rapid experimentation and innovation, principles of agile software development, design thinking, data analytics, product thinking, elastic infrastructure, and evolutionary architecture – this digital platform architecture will be core to the Group’s vision.
Ashish Grover, Head eCommerce for Falabella and India Technology Head, reflecting on the e-commerce market in Latin America, stated, “The LatAm e-commerce market is expected to grow dramatically to almost 80 billion USD this year. This is a huge opportunity for us, given Falabella’s perse portfolio which includes departmental stores, commercial financing, banking services, home construction & improvement, real estate, travel and insurance. We are looking at an integrated digital retail approach and leveraging our omni-channel strategy that expands to financial products and payments. Our partnership with Thoughtworks will give us the added impetus to accelerate our digital commerce journey to provide our end customers with a seamless shopping experience.”
Daniel Arancibia, Managing Director for Falabella Corporate Services India commented, “As a 130-year-old organization in retail, being customer-centric is deeply ingrained in our DNA. This collaboration with Thoughtworks is yet another step forward to deliver better customer experiences and aligns with our overall digital strategy.
Sudhir Tiwari, Managing Director for Thoughtworks in India had this to say on the alliance with Latin America’s biggest retail player, “We are living in exciting times where India is spearheading global product thinking and engineering. And, now with Latin America opening up to technological investments in the subcontinent, we have the opportunity to partner with Falabella to deliver innovation and strategic competitive advantage. This partnership is a big win for Global inhouse centers (GICs), who are continuously evolving their structures and operating models to keep moving up the value chain in their global partnerships.”
Jayesh Ghatge, Market Partner for Thoughtworks in India added by saying, “Falabella is one of the market leaders in the retail space in Latin America and are on the cusp of an ambitious digital transformation journey that will deliver unique customer experiences across their entire portfolio of companies. Couple that with Thoughtworks’ global expertise in retail and digital platform strategy and product innovation, and we have a winning combination. The Latin American giant’s partnership with Thoughtworks will usher Falabella into a data-led Intelligent Enterprise of the future.”
About S.A.C.I Falabella
Founded in 1889, Falabella is one of Latin America’s leading online and offline retail platforms. Falabella has over 496 stores across 7 countries comprising retail shopping centers, travel, insurance and consumer credit. The combined sales exceed US$ 14,500 million, and online sales reaching US$ 823 million over the last twelve months. In August last year, Falabella acquired Linio, which retails in eight countries in Latin America, to further strengthen and grow its digital commerce footprint in the region.
The IT business solutions arm of the Falabella group of companies, headquartered in Chile, launched its India operations, Falabella Corporate Services, on January 2, 2018 in Bangalore, India, to help accelerate the digital transformation of the Falabella group of companies.