Olímpica, one of Colombia's largest retail chains, aimed to accelerate its digital transformation by enhancing its e-commerce platform.
The challenge: Simplifying and personalizing the digital retail experience
The primary challenge was to move beyond a standard online store and offer users a truly tailored shopping experience, precisely adjusted to their individual preferences and needs.
The company faced several key objectives:
- Create deeply personalized shopping experiences for its users.
- Simplify and optimize the e-commerce purchase and checkout processes.
- Incorporate advanced technologies, including Generative AI, to improve customer interaction, automate manual tasks like writing product descriptions, and ultimately drive higher rates of conversion and loyalty.
The solution: A two-phase approach to AI-driven commerce
Pragma partnered with Olímpica to design and implement a comprehensive solution built on AWS, tackling the challenge in two strategic phases.
Phase 1: E-commerce flow and UX redesign: Pragma began by completely redesigning the user experience to simplify the shopping journey. The checkout flow was streamlined to make the purchasing process fast, clear, and easy. This phase also included developing key functionalities to close the gap between the physical and digital experience, such as managing package deliveries, guarantees, and handling out-of-stock items.
Phase 2: Implementing Generative AI and personalization: To create the tailored experience Olímpica envisioned, Pragma implemented Amazon Personalize, an AI-powered recommendation engine. This was strategically integrated into key points of the website, including the home page, product detail pages (PDP), and the checkout process, to offer recommendations based on real-time user behavior.
Furthermore, Pragma developed "Oli," a virtual shopping assistant built on AWS Bedrock. This assistant provides a smooth, contextual interaction, guiding users through their purchase with real-time recommendations. The Generative AI capabilities of AWS Bedrock were also used to automate the creation of personalized product descriptions (copies), eliminating a time-consuming manual process and ensuring product messaging aligned with user preferences.
The results: Significant growth in sales and customer loyalty
The implementation of Pragma's AI-driven solution delivered exceptional, quantifiable results, setting a new standard for Olímpica's e-commerce operations.
- Revenue and sales growth: The company saw a 30% increase in the average order value (AOV). This was accompanied by a 44% growth in sales within the first three months, driven directly by the new AI recommendation models.
- Customer loyalty and satisfaction: The personalized experience led to a 15% increase in customer retention and loyalty. Customer satisfaction saw a major boost, with the Net Promoter Score (NPS) improving by two points to reach 8.21.
- Engagement metrics: A/B testing confirmed the power of the new solution, showing a 95% increase in purchase intention and a 58% increase in user interactions on the models that used AI compared to traditional, manually-loaded methods.
Olímpica's success story serves as a powerful testament to the tangible impact of AI when strategically applied to the retail sector. This project transcended a simple e-commerce update; it represented a fundamental shift from a transactional platform to an intelligent, personalized shopping ecosystem.
By integrating sophisticated tools like Amazon Personalize for real-time recommendations and AWS Bedrock for the "Oli" virtual assistant and content automation, Pragma enabled Olímpica to directly address core business challenges. The resulting 44% growth in sales and 30% increase in average order value are not just metrics; they are direct proof that investing in a personalized, AI-driven user journey translates to significant, measurable revenue growth.
Furthermore, this case demonstrates that technology's true value is unlocked when it enhances the human experience. The 15% rise in customer loyalty and the impressive two-point jump in NPS to 8.21 highlight a critical outcome: customers felt better understood and served.
Pragma’s holistic approach, which combined a simplified UX redesign with this powerful AI stack, created a virtuous cycle. The simplified, more relevant experience increased engagement, which in turn fueled the AI with better data to deliver even greater personalization.
Olímpica's transformation provides a clear blueprint for how retailers can leverage AI not just to optimize sales, but to build lasting customer relationships and secure a competitive edge in the digital-first era.
