Falabella is one of the largest businesses in Latin America that has managed to make its way into various types of businesses over the years, including department stores, home improvement and construction, commercial financing (Customer Relationship Management), banking, travel, and insurance.
Today, Falabella Colombia is one of the most consolidated businesses in the main areas of the country, but before arriving in the Caribbean nation it had to travel a long way that began in 1889 in Chile, where Salvatore Falabella opened the first large tailor shop which was later linked to Alberto Solari, who introduced clothing and home products, turning it into a department store.
We have previously talked about the history of Falabella. The commercial giant began its expansion outside of Chilean borders in the 90s, with Argentina and Peru being the first countries to receive the project. It wasn’t until 2003 that they decided to merge with Sodimac S.A., a group of Colombian construction stores, a commercial relationship that allowed them to enter the country’s market through brands such as Homecenter and Constructor.
In 2006, the first Falabella Colombia store opened in the Santafé Shopping Center in Bogotá, where it continues to serve today. Since then, they have continued to expand throughout Colombia, where they currently have 26 branches occupying more than 160 square meters of commercial space in Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Bucaramanga, Pereira, Manizales, Chia, Ibagué and Villavicencio.
The first department store of Falabella Colombia opened with an investment of 20 million dollars and managed to generate 450 jobs. In the Caribbean country, the company focused on expanding its operations through retail stores, dedicated to the sale of clothing, perfumery, furniture, electronics, etc., also including the area of household items ranging from furniture and decoration from Sodimac Homecenter and then came the first Mall Plaza in Colombia on August 16, 2018, one of the most important shopping center chains in Latin America of which Falabella owns the majority of shares since 2010.
But its expansion in the country was not just about warehouses and retail stores; it also opened the door for the activities of Banco Falabella to begin on May 12, 2011 after the Financial Superintendence of Colombia authorized the company’s banking license to operate in the country. By 2018, Banco Falabella was positioned as the fourth issuer of credit cards in Colombia and the first in terms of Mastercard cards, something it achieved thanks to its alliance with this financial company.
When Banco Falabella began operations, they already had 800,000 customers who had CMR Falabella cards that were part of the CMR Puntos loyalty program with which they could accumulate and redeem points at allied businesses. Today they have a mobile app, credit card sales process, online consumer credit, Buy Now Pay Later financing and a 100% digital credit card.
A multinational like Falabella had to enter the online world, which it began in 1999 in Chile, but its online commercial activities evolved in 2018 with the acquisition of Linio, a company they used to present the products of their retail stores. Despite the acquisition, Linio maintained its brand and work teams but strengthened Falabella by providing logistics, a network of stores, access to its suppliers and product assortment, customer knowledge, and ease of payment methods.
However, in August 2021 they decided to launch Falabella.com, an eCommerce where they bring together more than 8 million products from their retail stores, Sodimac, Tottus, and Linio divided into a catalog with more than 20 categories such as Electronics, Home, Women, Shoes, Supermarket, Pets, Hardware, and more. In the case of Falabella.com.co, you not only find all the aforementioned categories, but you also come across direct access to their banking, insurance, Sodimac, CMR, and Linio sections.
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