Upstream, a specialist in mobile marketing solutions, has distinguished itself through its innovative approach, transforming the e-commerce landscape in Brazil. At the recent E-commerce Brazil Forum, the company demonstrated its growing influence in the sector, a result of a strategy focused on mobile messaging, including SMS, RCS, and WhatsApp. Since 2022, the company has significantly expanded its operations in e-commerce technology worldwide. In Brazil, the Greek-origin company has established itself as a partner of major companies in the e-commerce sector and has been fundamental in optimizing the operations of Brazilian e-commerce businesses, helping retailers improve user navigation, increase revenue, raise conversion rates, and recover abandoned shopping carts through the Grow platform .
In addition to consolidating its presence in the e-commerce market, Upstream has distinguished itself through its innovative solutions that go beyond simple communication. During the E-commerce Brazil Forum, the company presented some of the most effective strategies for engaging and converting users, with a special focus on gamification as a powerful tool to increase opt-in rates and strengthen customer relationships.
Innovations in gamification and opt-in conversion
Patrick Marquart, Head of Corporate Sales at Upstream, shared insights on how to increase opt-in conversions through gamified solutions. “Building an active customer base isn't a simple challenge, but we have a solution for that,” he explained. “Our clients today, naturally using our solution, convert around 5% to 6% of the traffic that arrives monthly within their e-commerce site, blog, or content page.”
Gamification is one of Upstream's most effective strategies, doubling conversion rates by engaging users in a fun and interactive way. "Our solution has pop-ups that can be gamified and even segmented so that the client has a unique strategy for capturing leads in the best way possible on the website," Marquart highlighted.
Successful gamification tools
Among the most successful models are roulette, scratch cards, and surprise boxes. “The first model that converts very well is roulette. The user registers and, in order to spin the wheel, they have to give us their phone and cell phone number. When they register, they can spin the wheel and it will give them a discount coupon, free shipping, or something else that can give them more relevance and sales,” explained Marquart.
E-commerce transformation with Upstream
One of the biggest pain points for e-commerce businesses is shopping cart abandonment. Michely Ramos, CRM performance analyst at ZZ MALL, shares how Upstream helped in this process.
"We met Upstream through a pain point: journey and shopping cart abandonment. We implemented pop-up strategies for communication before and after abandonment, with two action fronts through SMS in two steps, in addition to WhatsApp messages. Upstream helped us understand the connection points in the customer journey, identifying the reasons for abandonment and how to bring them back. Customers arrive at our website from various sources, including paid media, an area in which I work, and often abandon navigation on the homepage itself."
Michely points out that Upstream has adopted strategies to encourage the collection of customer data, removing anonymity, which is crucial due to the LGPD (Brazilian General Data Protection Law) and data protection.
“Before, we were paying for customers who never converted. Thanks to Upstream, we reduced our cart abandonment rate by 20% and increased the share of CRM channels by almost 16% since March. We were able to segment emails and SMS to better engage potential customers and send personalized journeys. We consider Upstream an essential partner in crafting this 360° journey, understanding the customer's stage, whether in the acquisition or retention phase. This brings more intelligence to our business and keeps us present in the user's life. Out of sight, out of mind, so we need to be everywhere, communicating consistently across social media and proprietary channels,” celebrates the Analyst.
Caio Velasco, from Granado's CRM team, considers the partnership with Upstream essential for better understanding customers and improving communication across various channels.
“We have been operating in Brazil for over 150 years, with more than 100 stores spread across the country, as well as a presence in Europe and the United States. In my role as CRM, I work with these stores as well as the B2C and B2B websites, including an international website covering all of Europe and the US. Recently, in 2024, we started talking to Upstream about a challenge we were facing: acquiring and converting customers effectively. Although we were reaching many people, our conversion rate was not satisfactory. Upstream was the finishing touch we needed, bringing about a significant change. They helped us understand who our customers are and how to impact them at the right time and through the right channel.”
He adds that through strategies implemented with Upstream, it was possible to significantly increase the number of new customers and better identify these customers in order to develop repurchase strategies.
“Upstream provided us with a complete overview of the process, from acquisition to loyalty, transforming our customers into loyal followers who keep up with all our news and promotions. The partnership with Upstream has been essential, especially regarding abandoned shopping carts, where we have been working together for some time. We believe there is great potential to further develop and deepen our projects with their help, taking advantage of all the new possibilities and innovations they have brought to Granado,” he points out.
Market impact and participation in events
Upstream participated in three editions of the E-commerce Brazil Forum and also in VTEX Day, standing out as an innovative company that serves enterprise clients with a focus always on new developments and improvements. "Gamification is changing the game; we're converting more users, and this is bringing in more and more revenue for retailers," concluded Marquart.
