translated from Spanish: Alvi enters the payment market with retail support system

Through a transversal, competitive and easy-to-acquire payment system, the wholesale supermarket chain Alvi, a subsidiary of SMU, seeks to strengthen the value proposition for its merchant partners, boosting its possibilities for growth, development and digitalization. A new tool to support the entrepreneurship, growth and digitalization of retail trade launched this morning the wholesale chain Alvi. This is Club Alvi Pagos, a new exclusive solution for Club Alvi members so that merchants can receive payments with cards. With this announcement, Alvi, enters the market of the means of payment in the country, strengthening the value proposition of the format and strengthening the relationship with merchants. Alvi is the first and only retailer that has this solution, specialized and tailored to warehouses, botillerías and minimarket, among others, making available to its partners a channel with competitive value and easy access, which allows sales through debit, credit and prepaid cards. To start operating, Club Alvi members must purchase the card reader at any of the Alvi stores throughout Chile and download the Club Alvi Pagos App on their cell phone. Andrés Fernández, manager of Alvi details that “one of the main virtues of Alvi Pagos is its accessibility, since our merchant partners acquire the reader by paying a certain amount for a single time and the device is theirs, that is, it does not imply a monthly rental charge. It’s digitalization for warehouses and within their reach.” In addition to facilitating sales and providing greater security for entrepreneurs and customers, Club Alvi Pagos will allow merchants in this network to have greater discounts and benefits associated with their purchases in Alvi. New services will also be enabled that will allow these businesses to continue developing and thus increase the income of these merchants. Andrés Fernández, explains that “what we seek with this initiative is to increase the value of the ecosystem that we have built for our merchant partners, with emphasis on the development of digital tools that allow them to boost their processes and increase their client portfolio, which also keeps us as their strategic ally. We believe that with this solution they will be able to expand their sales possibilities and also the purchase ticket, since we know that this increases when the payment is by card”. Juan Gayoso, owner of two warehouses in El Bosque, says that he found out about it through Whatsapp for Alvi customers and in less than 10 minutes he had it in his hands working. “If I do not have the flexibility to pay by card I do not sell anything, the client goes to another place that does. Now we are making 50% of the sales by card and we believe that we will reach close to 100%,” he explains. “What they are doing is something important, because they are helping entrepreneurs, people who have businesses,” he concludes.

Original source in Spanish