Magazine Luiza, or just Magalu, as the giant Brazilian retailer prefers to present itself, reached the milestone of 100,000 sellers in its marketplace this month of September. About 40% of this total are the so-called Parceiros Magalu (or Magalu Partners), small and medium business owners across the country who joined the company’s platform during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Magalu’s more than 1,400 physical stores, according to the company, were also vital to this milestone, since they started to work as an entry point for products sold by sellers. “Our physical stores now work as post office agencies. After being dropped off by the seller at one of the chain’s stores, products sold digitally enter our logistics network,” explained Leandro Soares, executive director of Magalu’s marketplace, in a press release.
In August, Magalu launched POS terminals, digital accounts, and loans for its partner sellers. In addition to financial solutions, Magalu is also betting on an ad platform and cross-selling content solutions to make its base of partner sellers grow.
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Named Magalu Ads, the platform opens up the possibility for the seller to use the type of advertising best suited to the moment and the product they want to promote. From branded content solutions (on the portals Canaltech, Steal de Look, and Jovem Nerd, all acquired by Magalu during the last 12 months) to product placement solutions, with Lu (half mascot, half assistant, and Magalu’s virtual influencer) using sellers’ products in marketing actions.
Sellers are an essential part of Magalu’s growth strategy at a time when Asian e-commerce giants, such as AliExpress and Shopee, are also opening their marketplaces to Brazilian sellers.
