Homecenter Case Study: Ecommerce & Omnichannel Growth in Colombia

Building Colombia’s Leading Home Improvement Ecommerce Platform

When I joined Homecenter in 2011, Colombia had no ecommerce culture, only an informational site and consumers reluctant to buy online. Leading a team of designers, analysts, copywriters, and developers, we built the ecommerce MVP, introduced omnichannel with kiosks and call center integration, and turned a static website into the largest Home Improvement ecommerce in LATAM.

Client

Industry

Location

About the Client

Homecenter has been a pioneer in omnichannel retail in Colombia, combining physical stores, ecommerce, call centers, and mobile platforms to serve both households and professionals in the building industry. Operated as a joint venture between Organización Corona (51%) and Falabella (49%), Homecenter is the country’s largest home improvement and construction retailer.

Highlight Metrics:

Top 3 retailer in Colombia.
#1 retail shopping app in the country.
Recognized as the leading omnichannel retailer in Colombia.
Kiosks matched the annual sales of a medium-sized store in their first year.
120+ new product categories launched online, opening new digital markets.

The Challenge

When I joined Homecenter in 2011, Homecenter.com.co was only an informational website, Colombia had no operational ecommerce for home improvement. The company faced multiple barriers to building trust and scaling digital sales:

No ecommerce platform in place; the Chilean headquarters had not yet delivered Oracle Commerce (ATG).
Consumer distrust of online shopping, fueled by years of bank warnings against entering personal data online.
Very low initial conversion (0.1%), as shoppers hesitated to buy high-involvement products like construction materials and home projects without detailed information.
A massive catalog of 64,000 SKUs required structured taxonomy, accurate descriptions, and professional product photography before sales could begin.
No omnichannel model, physical stores, call centers, and digital channels operated separately.
Missed in-store opportunities, as customers left empty-handed when items were out of stock or unavailable locally.

The User Needs

User research and early analytics revealed two critical groups and their unmet needs:

Shoppers in Colombia

Trustworthy and detailed product information (taxonomy, descriptions, photography).
Tools to estimate costs and materials for home projects before purchasing.
Confidence in the security of online transactions.

In-store sales teams and call center agents

A way to support customers when products were out of stock or not available locally.
Digital tools (kiosks and integrated systems) to keep the sale inside the company.
Seamless integration with ecommerce so they could benefit from commissions.

My Role & Team

As Director of Usability, I was responsible for leading the ecommerce user experience strategy within the Distance Sales division. My focus was to ensure usability, conversion optimization, and the creation of digital-first shopping journeys.

My Team

Data analysts, tracked customer behavior, built funnels, and guided decisions with metrics.
Web designers, created interfaces and improved visual usability.
Copywriters, developed taxonomy, product descriptions, and clear communication.
Programmers, built features, optimized performance, and integrated kiosks with ecommerce.

Together, we defined priorities, prototyped solutions, and executed iterations using Scrum and Double Diamond principles.

Turn skepticism into trust by building seamless digital journeys.

The Solution

This transformation was not an overnight fix. It was a multi-year process of research, design, and iteration that turned an informational site into Colombia’s largest home improvement ecommerce platform.

As Director of Usability, I led a multidisciplinary UX team to design and scale the digital experience, working closely with store operations and the distance sales division. Our approach included:

Launching the ecommerce MVP in Colombia, even before headquarters rolled out Oracle ATG. This included product taxonomy, photography, and 64,000 SKUs organized for digital purchase.
Developing inbound marketing campaigns with project-based content and segmented email marketing to drive traffic and conversion.
Implementing structural SEO and content optimization to make product discovery efficient.
Installing in-store kiosks, negotiating sales commissions for store staff to support digital orders. Within the first year, kiosks sold the equivalent of a medium-sized store’s annual revenue.
Integrating call centers with ecommerce and kiosks to build a seamless customer journey across all touchpoints.
Designing personalization and automation tools for cross-selling and up-selling, based on customer behavior and product categories.
Applying analytics at every step from heatmaps and conversion funnels to performance dashboards to continuously improve UX and sales performance.
Introducing growth hacking practices such as rapid experimentation with campaigns, UX tweaks, and funnel optimizations that accelerated adoption and scaled online sales faster.
Leveraging consumer psychology and behavioral design to improve the shopping experience, increase average ticket size, and raise NPS across the entire journey from product search to online purchase and delivery.

The Results

Positioned among the top 3 retailers in Colombia.
Reached the #1 retail shopping app in the country.
Recognized as the leading omnichannel retailer in Colombia.
Kiosks matched the annual sales of a medium-sized store in their first year of operation.
120+ new product categories launched online, opening entirely new digital markets.
NPS improved significantly as consumer trust increased across search, online purchase, and delivery.

Leadership Testimonial

"César’s role was fundamental for the growth of Homecenter’s ecommerce. As Director of Usability, he contributed innovation and leadership that transformed our digital channels. He integrated web traffic with call center operations, piloted the extension of ecommerce into physical stores, and set the foundation for our corporate SEO strategy. His application of SCRUM and UX methodologies, along with his expertise in analytics and digital marketing, helped drive conversion and solidify our omnichannel experience."

María Claudia Narravo. E-Commerce and Omnichannel Manager, Sodimac Colombia

María Claudia Navarro E-Commerce and Omnichannel Manager

Conclusion

The omnichannel transformation at Homecenter Sodimac Colombia became a milestone for the home improvement industry in Latin America. By combining UX leadership, behavioral design, growth hacking, and seamless integration between ecommerce, call centers, and physical stores, Homecenter didn’t just launch a digital platform. It reshaped consumer trust in online shopping and established a scalable blueprint for omnichannel retail in emerging markets.

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