Smart payments for natural health: Herbolario Salud Natural and MultiSafepay
Herbolario Salud Natural is a business founded in 2012 by Sergio Álvaro and Susana Palomares in Madrid.
It began as a physical store offering high-quality natural healthcare products. Just a bit later, in October 2012, they leaped into the online world with the rise of e-commerce activity.
Throughout these 13 years, Herbolario Salud Natural has experienced constant growth, adapting to market changes, and always keeping its commitment to quality and the well-being of its customers.
In this success story, we interviewed Sergio Alvaro, co-founder, and CEO of the company.
What inspired the idea for Herbolario Salud Natural, and what steps did you take to bring your project to life?
Sergio: Susana and I devised this idea because we were interested in natural products and their potential for health and wellness.
As partners, we share our passion for a healthy lifestyle. We saw an opportunity within a niche market where we could set up our business and grow, offering advice and high-quality products to our customers. So, we decided to take the plunge.
In May 2012, we set up our physical store here in Madrid. Then, seeing the importance of having an online channel, we decided to start working on our website in September of the same year and launched it in October.
Initially, it was a basic website, but keeping in mind the success we were having, we migrated to a professional CMS like Prestashop.
Nowadays, we are continually expanding our catalog and improving the user experience, which is key to our continued growth.
What is the biggest challenge you have overcome in Salud Natural?
Sergio: Well, precisely this, having been able to hold on until now because many businesses that were working quite well have fallen. The pressure that these multinationals have put on our prices in recent years has been significant.
Many of these companies have strong financial support, so they have even gone into losses for some years to wipe out the competition.
What strengths have contributed to the success of Herbolario Salud Natural?
Sergio: Our Customer Service, no doubt. We invest heavily in this department to continue providing a very personalized service.
On the surface, selling seems straightforward. You create a website, showcase your product, and add a "buy" button. However, the real challenge begins when issues arise, and you need to navigate complex problems and manage customer concerns effectively.
At Herbolario Salud Natural, we handle more than 20,000 items, and sometimes, we have stock problems because we don’t receive updates on our supplier’s product status as quickly as we would like.
Sometimes, we have unforeseen products damage, which generates friction with customers and transport agencies during order delivery.
You need to be available when the customer has a problem; it's essential to offer solutions and ensure they know exactly where to find help.
"Our Customer Service is undoubtedly one of our best bases for success. Selling seems easy. The complicated part comes when it is not a clean sale and there are incidents with the customer's order."
How did you get to know MultiSafepay?
Sergio: We were with Paycomet, which generated some friction because they operate through Redsys. We received many complaints about transaction failures daily, so we were losing sales. Some customers persist in their attempt to buy, but others abandon the shopping cart when they experience a couple of failures.
In addition, adding other payment methods to the gateway also had limitations, or implementing them because it involved significant development.
We started looking further options. A company we work with recommended us MultiSafepay. I contacted you, we negotiated with Silvia Calvo from business development, and here we are, totally delighted.
Your CMS is Prestashop. How did the integration process go?
Sergio: The integration was quite simple. The difficulty was more on our part because our CMS is entirely customized, and every time we implement something, it isn't straightforward. I am meticulous and repeat it repeatedly in the test environment before going to the real environment.
The MultiSafepay test environment works very well. The support is quite agile and efficient when we need a response.
"The integration was quite easy, even considering our CMS is customized. The test environment works quite well, and the support department's responses are quick and efficient."
Would you say one of MultiSafepay's strong points is its Customer Support?
Sergio: MultiSafepay has many advantages as PSP, but I’d like to highlight the support team. They are incredibly responsive and knowledgeable, which gives us confidence in our daily operations. Whenever we've had any issues, they've been addressed promptly and effectively.
This reliable support is crucial in the fast-paced world of e-commerce, where any downtime can significantly impact business. Our partnership with MultiSafepay ensures that our commitment to exceptional customer service solves problems quickly and helps us prevent future issues by providing insightful advice and proactive solutions.
As acquiring PSP, we work directly with main card-issuing banks, no third parties, ensuring minimal response time. Your current payment methods are Visa, Mastercard, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. Would you add any other payment methods to your checkout?
Sergio: Of course, Bizum, as soon as you have it. It is an essential payment method for the Spanish market, and MultiSafepay is close to integrating it.
Yes, that's right. We are already in the final stretch. What improvements have you made since joining MultiSafepay?
Sergio: We now reconcile automatically by uploading the MultiSafepay CSV file to our ERP, and that is where the automatic reconciliation takes place.
We have around 300,000 transactions per month. Reconciling everything manually would be unthinkable.
Automatic reconciliation of MultiSafepay saves us a lot of time and resources.
"We reconcile automatically by uploading MultiSafepay’s CSV file to our ERP. With over 300,000 monthly transactions, this saves us a lot of time and resources."
Sergio, how do you think MultiSafepay's payment solutions have helped Herbolario Salud Natural?
Sergio: Above all, we have gained a lot in agility.
As I told you before, with Redsys, we detected significant problems during the payment process, leading to a high volume of daily complaints. When logging into the Paycomet dashboard, the information could also have been more helpful.
Most of the time, they were generic errors, so we needed help finding out why it was failing.
With the change to MultiSafepay as our PSP, all these issues has been reduced significantly. It is now rare for customers to report payment problems.
"With Redsys, we had major problems when making payments, so we also received many complaints from customers. With MultiSafepay, this has been reduced to a minimum".
Based on everything you tell me, has your conversion rate increased with the switch to MultiSafepay?
Sergio: Yes, for sure. Our new checkout has contributed a lot to our order growth over the last year. Your payment gateway is impressive: fast, intuitive, and accessible from a single control panel.
I'm not particularly eager to discuss numbers. Still, I can confirm that the conversion rate has increased significantly since we switched to MultiSafepay, helping us grow Herbolario Salud Natural.
"I can confirm that the conversion rate has increased significantly since we switched to MultiSafepay, helping us grow Herbolario Salud Natural.
You have a rating of 4.78 out of five in Trusted Shop, with hundreds of positive ratings. Why do you think this is?
Sergio: I focus more on the negative ones so I can improve, but most of them are indeed thanks to our Customer Service, who daily reviews the incidents reported by the agencies one by one, call the clients, and provides them solutions.
The 4.78 rating in Trusted Shop is 100% because of our Customer Service team. We are pleased with the team we have.
Multinationals often lose focus on the client. That sets us apart.
What are your future plans for Herbolario Salud Natural? Expansion, diversification, internationalization.
Sergio: The first challenge is technological since our Prestashop version has become obsolete. We have 1.6.1, and the last version is 1.8.
The problem we had with the change from version 1.6 to 1.7 was that the database's architecture had changed, and it was no longer compatible, so we had to practically create a new web.
As we move so many orders per day and our catalog is so wide, making a new portal is complicated and expensive. Besides that, you must be incredibly careful when migrating because it can affect SEO, but we must do it this year.
Then, there is an internationalization plan within the eurozone. We must find local products and brands that can be competitive in the different markets and make the leap to other European markets.
We are also considering establishing an omnichannel system. We have experienced a robust growth and have been patching it up. We want our physical and online channels to work together.
"Our most immediate needs are to update our CMS, set up an omnichannel strategy, and internationalize within the eurozone with MultiSafepay."
Do you think MultiSafepay can help you with your business plans?
Sergio: Of course, because if we talk about internationalization, you offer each country's most important payment methods. Google and Apple Pay are for almost all markets, but for example, Bizum is vital here in Spain, but in the Netherlands, without iDEAL, selling is complicated.
We already operate in Portugal with Multibanco, which we have recently incorporated because it's an essential payment method for the Portuguese market.
So, I know that MultiSafepay, as our payment partner, will help us because there are payment methods like Sofort that we, as a Spanish company, have never heard of before.
However, you must ensure that you can operate in all countries to increase your client's database who rely on specific payment methods. If those methods aren't available, these customers might not complete their purchases."
Absolutely. Customers prefer their favorite payment methods, so your checkout must offer local options when targeting new markets. A PSP as MultiSafepay helps merchants adapt seamlessly. What advice do you have for those starting in ecommerce?
Sergio: Yes, to have a very well-developed business plan because right now, the current situation is challenging, and if you do not have substantial financing behind you, it can be tough to succeed due to tight margins.
Instead of competing on price, it is better to focus on what you can offer that makes a difference.
"For those who want to start in this market. I would advise them to have a solid business plan and good financing behind it since it is challenging to compete on price in this sector."
Well, that's all Sergio. Thank you very much for your time.
Sergio: Thanks to you.
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