Colombia. The company Midea continues to work to consolidate its presence in Colombia, through the opening of new stores and logistics infrastructure, in addition to strengthening its commercial strategy and after-sales service.
In this regard, we spoke with Juan Pablo Barros, Country Manager of the company in Colombia, who referred to a series of achievements that underpin the recognition and positioning of the brand at the national level.
ACR Latin America: What does the recent opening of a new store in the city of Cali mean for the company?
Juan Pablo Barros: It is important to make it clear that these stores are in association with the allies, the distributors of the brand in Colombia, which in this case has been the company Electrojaponesa. This store is a one-stop solution center where the consumer can find the entire Midea portfolio and we're also going to have a service center for after-sales service.
ACR: Do you mean that more openings are on the way?
JPB: We want to expand this project throughout the country with different distributors nationwide, so that they feel that Midea is supporting them to expand the business. This also helps us to continue increasing brand positioning, generate consumer recall and show the entire portfolio, because we do not want to be recognized only as an air conditioning company but as a technology and home solutions company.
ACR: How is the establishment of your logistics center in the Colombian Pacific Free Trade Zone going?
JPB: Three months ago we opened the logistics center in the Pacific Free Trade Zone. There are 5,000 square meters of warehouse, which has allowed us to increase and strengthen our supply chain to be able to deliver products to large stores and customers in the traditional channel in a maximum of two weeks. This has strengthened our distribution structure because we previously had products in 150 stores and by the end of this year we will be in approximately 300 stores.
ACR: What comes next within the framework of your strategic plan in the country?
JPB: Well, the next actions we have planned is to continue to improve our execution at the point of sale. We are increasing the coverage we have today with large stores such as Éxito and Jumbo. We used to have product in 20 large stores and we are now having product in 60, investing a lot in branding, providing a memorable experience to the consumer at the time of purchase, having spare parts available so that the after-sales service is the best, a differential service. In addition, we will continue to invest in branding, advertising, ATL, BTL, fairs, etc., in order to be recognized as an important player in the white goods sector and achieve 10% of the Colombian market share in the short term.
