It's 2019, and what is the current situation with online buying within Ecuador?
Since 2015, not much has changed unfortunately. What has changed is that some companies like Kissu, Novicompu, CompraEcuador, etc have increased their online catalog on websites like mercadolibre.
I do shop online, but mainly for items that are hard to find like a remote for a device or something that I'm familiar with (including price). So, things like that I buy online but if it's something that I want and it costs more than $100 then buying from a brick-and-mortar shop is often better because you can negotiate face-to-face.
Case in point, a workout bench that I recently purchased. I negotiated a 30% discount from the original price, and I just don't see that happening online especially when it's from a big company because who will you negotiate with?
With guys selling stuff from their homes you can do that as there is back and forth communication either via whatsapp or the user interfaces that are available on the websites. With bigger companies, it's mainly - contact info, method of payment and delivery coordination.
Another disappointing aspect about buying online is that the search engines for websites remain dismal. Really, really awful and you have to be kind of precise with local vocabulary as the hits just aren't there for synonyms. One would think after 4 years some improvements would have been made to the algorithm.
Also, there aren't any newcomers that have added to a better online shopping experience. Linio which had a good amount of marketing, at least in the capital, is apparently out of business. Ya esta has a horrible search engine, and I haven't tried them. Yeah, it's 2019 and shopping online could and should be a lot better.