EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Mariano Nejamkis, GM Digital Business Unit at Grupo El Comercio

For the third consecutive year, Miami Beach was the backdrop to yet another successful Global Online Marketplaces Summit. 

Over 230 attendees from around the world took part in three information and networking-packed days, among them Mariano Nejamkis, General Manager Digital Business Unit at Grupo El Comercio.

Grupo El Comercio has its roots in print media, Peru’s oldest newspaper El Comercio, which during the past few decades began acquiring other assets and building a media conglomerate. Currently, according to Nejamkis, Grupo El Comercio is the top media company in Peru, extending throughout Latin America.

The Group includes a press business unit including: El Comercio, Perú21, Trome, Gestión, Depor Publimetro, Ojo, Correo y Bocón; a television business unit: América TV y Canal N. 3; an entertainment business unit: Conney Park, Divertrónica Medellin and Yukids, in Peru, Colombia and Chile, respectively; a digital business unit: Cash Payment, Lumingo, Xpress Commerce, Urbania, Aptitus and Neoauto; a business services business unit: industrial business model, books, magazines, labels and packaging are produced.

Originally from Argentina, and the former CEO of Zonaprop.com and DeRemate.com, Nejamkis is an industrial engineer with an MBA and a master's degree in telecommunications. His experience in online marketplaces spans more than 15 years, which is one of the reasons he was invited to relocate to Peru and join Grupo El Comercio.

Nejamkis is now responsible for the Group’s digital businesses in Peru, including Classifieds, Real Estate, Jobs, Cars, Fintech, Marketplaces, Data, among others.

We caught up with Mariano Nejamkis at this year's Online Marketplaces Summit in Miami where he granted us a quick interview. “I am currently in Peru, which is a small country, a second-tier in Latin America, the first-tier countries being Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, perhaps Colombia," said Nejamkis.

"We are a country of 32 million people with a strong growth rate in the last 15+ years -- approximately 5% each year. Although Peru has been behind the region's other countries, now it is catching up. We are really growing, and there is a lot happening in our area, especially in the classifieds.

"At Grupo El Comercio, we still have print classifieds, so I manage not only the online classifieds but also the migration of the print to online. Like every newspaper company in the world we are dealing with the migration to digital, subscriptions, online advertising including all the e-commerce sites," added Nejamkis.

Referring to online marketplaces, Nemjakis stated that years ago, companies were growing at a fast pace but now they are all trying to find a way to maximize their profitability, getting closer to the transaction and incorporate new technology and features, such as A.I., bots and the like. "We may be competitors, but at gatherings such as the Online Marketplaces Summit, we can share and learn from one another, so that we can all grow in the industry. We all benefit,” stated Nejamkis.

"I like being here [at the Global Online Marketplaces Summit], interacting with everyone, networking, listening to what is going on in the world. There have been instances when a company has been sold or bought during a cocktail social hour. I invested in a company once at the Global Online Marketplaces Summit," concluded Njamkis.

Join us November 12-15 for the Property Portal Watch Conference Madrid 2019.