Mexico's Liverpool launches U.S. site Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM
, Jim Tierney
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Mexico City-based department store giant Liverpool, which last year reaped an estimated $3 billion in sales, in March unveiled an online catalog that targets Mexicans living across the border in the United States. Liverpool Entrega Directa (Direct Delivery) allows Mexicans in the U.S. to buy items online for delivery to family members in Mexico.
Ignacio Aguiriano, manager of Liverpool Direct, estimates that 60% of Mexicans living in the U.S. regularly send money — about $250-$300 a month — to their families in Mexico. With Liverpool Entrega Directa, he says, “we are giving Mexicans in the U.S. another option to just sending money.”
Aguiriano says two-thirds of the Spanish-language Website is dedicated to furniture. Key suppliers include Mexican producers Boal Muebles and Gabite. The remaining third of the items available for sale are appliances and consumer electronics such as refrigerators, washing machines, and televisions. Pricing is in U.S. dollars and Mexican pesos.
Customers can order the items online or through a toll-free number; deliveries will be made from one of Liverpool's 57 stores in Mexico. The delivery service is exclusive to Mexico, Aguiriano says: “We are not delivering in the U.S.” Delivery is guaranteed in one to three weeks. “The delivery time depends on which part of Mexico the items are going to.”
Liverpool researched the venture in Los Angeles last year, holding focus groups and working with agencies, Aguiriano says. Entrega Directa shadows the footsteps of Mexican grocer Gigante and Los Angeles-based retailer La Curacao, both of which take Web orders from Mexicans living in the U.S. for products to be delivered to recipients in Mexico.
While Aguiriano says he hopes business will eventually come from all 50 states, Liverpool's initial marketing launch targeted Mexicans living in the Los Angeles area. In early May, the company distributed 700,000 Spanish-language brochures featuring its appliance offerings. “Little by little sales have been coming in our call center, and hopefully they will start growing steadily,” he says.
Aguiriano says the tagline for Liverpool Entrega Directa sums up its mission: “Llevamos tu carino a Mexico,” which in English means “We will deliver your caring to Mexico.”
