The Pandemic Put All Eyes on Logtech

Q: How have you managed the massive growth in e-commerce that began as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic?

A: We have been growing organically for four years and will hopefully have our first investment round at some point this year. We recently tripled our team after more than tripling our revenue. We also hired an in-house marketing team for a brand relaunch because we started without a UX team and only a small sales team.

We are trying to get closer to our clients by changing features that were not so user friendly. We have built a better version of our platform, making it easier to use EnvíoPack. We prioritize our projects following our roadmap but we know that we need to attract external funds to go bigger.

Q: What were the main challenges of translating your business model to the Mexican market and what are the main opportunities you see?

A: The technology on our platform is almost the same in every country, so we have not had to adapt it to different markets. Mexico is a great and attractive market. We have not had any problems doing business with providers or clients here. Everyone in Mexico wants to do business and go online, so everything is set up to do business. Our Mexican team has five people but we have plans to grow that to 100. We already have 50 logistics partners in the country.

EnvíoPack’s three founders come from a technology and e-commerce background. We founded the company based on the great need for technology in logistics. We wanted to be a global company and  we wanted to grow in Latin America once the product was tested.

Q: How do the logistics solutions you offer to e-commerce players stand out in the market?

A: We are a “logtech” company. We offer logistics services powered by our technological solutions. We have fulfillment centers in Tultitlan and with all the last-mile companies that work with us. We work with all types of clients that sell small, medium and large products. It is essential for our clients to receive constant communication on the status of their products, including stock, deliveries and services. Through EnvioPack, they can control everything, from the moment we receive their stock until it is delivered to the end client. For us, data is essential.

Q: What has been your experience with the growth in last mile and possibly expanding the margin of error for deliveries?

A: We are not a last-mile company but we work with 50 last-mile partners across the region. Technology solutions like ours actually help reduce the margin of error, particularly in a world where Amazon and Mercadolibre have set the bar in terms of what the customer now expects as standard quality for delivery services. These companies have increased the need for flawless delivery services.

Q: How did the pandemic impact the company’s previous expansion plans?

A: The pandemic was great for e-commerce. At EnvioPack, we grew nine times in 2020 and three times in 2021. The growth will likely stabilize but our plans have not changed. We are convinced that to be big players in Latin America we have to be in Mexico. We always had the conviction that Mexico was the greatest market in the region and the pandemic only reinforced that. Going forward, we will continue investing in Mexico and other countries. We are considering opening offices in Colombia and we are developing a tool for cross-border trade.

Q: What challenges did you face when dealing with that massive growth?

A: There were numerous challenges. The main one for every startup, especially in a market as competitive as Mexico, is building teams. Bringing our senior team on board when we grew was challenging and will continue to be so because we are getting bigger so we need to bring more people onboard.

Q: What e-commerce trends do you expect to see throughout 2022?

A: The most popular trend in logistics is “quick-commerce,” which represents a significant challenge because it involves precisely managing various parts of the logistics supply chain, such as urban fulfillment. It also requires a strong technological base. While challenging, it will lead to better e-commerce in the last mile. Another challenge will be offering the same delivery experience all across Mexico and Latin America because the industry is concentrated in big cities.

Q: How did attitudes toward technological advances in logistics change during the pandemic?

A: The pandemic made logistics a hot topic. A couple of years ago, it was all about fintech and healthtech; now logtech is trending because the pandemic caused e-commerce to boom. Logistics grew by 67 percent in Mexico, so all the growth that was planned for three years was achieved in one. Investors, clients, traditional sellers and logistics partners that were doubting whether to invest in infrastructure, were reassured of the need by the pandemic.

Q: What are your goals for the next three to seven years?

A: The main challenges will be to continue growing in Mexico, to open in Colombia and offer cross-border logistics. That will be a great deal of work because cross-border logistics is a large project for the regional market.