First e-commerce of homes in Brazil moves more than R$ 100 million in sales after two years of launch

An estimate by the Brazilian E-commerce Association (ABComm) indicates that e-commerce is expected to surpass the barrier of R$ 200 billion in the country in 2024. With this in mind, Espaço Smart – Brazil's first house store, has partnered with VTEX, a cloud solution for online commerce, to build the first e-commerce platform for residences and steel frame construction items. Since its launch two years ago, the brand's e-commerce has already generated over R$ 100 million in sales.

With a projected revenue of R$ 500 million for this year, Espaço Smart estimates that e-commerce will account for approximately 12% of this amount. Despite the relatively low percentage, Fernando Scheffer, the brand's founder, explains that the tool's purpose goes beyond commerce itself, significantly enhancing the consumers' purchasing experience.  

“We created this format with the goal of changing the way houses are sold in Brazil. We found a solution that allows us to improve the customer experience and add several new features to the purchasing process. Since it involves the sale of an extremely complex product, which the consumer often buys only once in a lifetime, e-commerce serves as a tool to enhance the customer's decision-making journey, not just the final transaction,” he explains. 

The success of this process is reflected in the numbers. In the first half of 2024 alone, over 40,000 people visited a physical store of the brand after being influenced by the e-commerce platform. Additionally, 16% of the projects sold during this period had their purchasing journey initiated through digital channels. 

It is also worth noting that more than half (55%) of customers who purchase online end up opting for the Pick Up Store option, where they collect the products directly from one of Espaço Smart's 38 physical stores spread across Brazil and Paraguay, speeding up and optimizing the delivery process of materials. According to Scheffer, a significant portion of these customers also engage in cross-selling, given the complex architectural and engineering specifications involved in the projects.

“Most of the time, the customer forgets to purchase some necessary item for the complete solution, such as tapes, compounds, screws, etc., and ends up buying these items at the physical store during pickup. This possibility, in addition to increasing the average ticket of our omnichannel customer, also helps to build loyalty and extend the Lifetime Value (LTV) of consumers,” adds the founder.

A Predictable and Engaging Construction Process

Among the benefits that justify the enhancement of the customer journey is the predictability that the solution ensures for the project. With API integration of calculators capable of defining prices for structures such as roofs, floors, ceilings, and walls, the customer can receive precise budgeting for materials and labor. 

Furthermore, through AI technologies, Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR) plugged directly into the VTEX platform, the buyer can design, “build,” and virtually visualize their house project in a predictable and secure manner, coming very close to the “dream home” model.

“When we talk about buying a house, it is usually something ‘uninspiring,’ boring, and unpredictable. What we do is transform the purchasing journey, which is extremely important and of high added value, into an entertainment experience, where the buyer can explore immersive, sensory technologies, AI, 3D, Metaverse, AR, VR, BIM so that the construction of the residence becomes enjoyable and predictable for the customer,” adds Rodrigo Brandão, Marketing Manager of Espaço Smart.