2018 was a year in which we continued to respond to our passion, simplify the lives of our clients transforming their shopping experiences. Our goal is to serve them in all the ways in which they wish to purchase, operating with responsibility, cooperating with the communities in which we are present and watching over all the people that interact with our company, employees as well as shareholders and suppliers. This is the north of our actions.
2018 was especially important for Falabella. We made relevant progress aimed at consolidating the necessary capabilities to automate, digitalize and scale-up our company to generate a digital ecosystem, and in this way maintain our commercial leadership in the region. To develop and accelerate this plan we undertook a US$ 581 million capital increase that strengthens our balance sheet, giving us flexibility and setting us in a privileged position within the current Latin American commerce. In addition, we incorporated new investors to our shareholder base, which gives us diversification and sustainability in the long-term.
The digitalization of the company in all of its formats, the investments that we are undertaking in logistics, the acquisition of Linio, our network of stores and shopping centers, added to our knowledge about our customers from their visits and transactions with us, differentiate us and deliver the strength to lead in the markets in which we are present. We believe that these advantages will invigorate our competitive position in the physical world, and will allow us to lead the digital market.
Our progresses in logistics materialized, among other investments, with the beginning of operations of the omnichannel distribution center located in Santiago de Chile. This automated center, the most modern in the region, seeks to satisfy a consumer that requires quick and precise answers in all formats, in the physical as well as in the digital. In the short term, we will continue improving our logistics capabilities in all the countries in which we operate, in order to be the company that best supplies its stores and customers.
Moreover, we are developing the capability to scale up our company sustainably. This year electronic transactions increased over 70%, and we were able to accompany this growth with a better customer service. We had over 874 million visits to our web pages and more than 155 million visits to our financial services web sites, reflecting the satisfaction of our clients with our digital products. All these indicators show that, although we still have many challenges, we are moving in the right direction.
We seek to respond to clients in all channels, both through physical presence in stores, shopping centers and financial branches, as well as through the virtual presence. We will continue privileging the development of applications for mobile phones and developing with more strength our Digital Factories. Our efforts aim to serve clients in the most efficient and fastest way. We are working hard to adapt our organization to the new behavior of this omnichannel world.
Our investment program considers advancing in information technology including artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, strengthen logistics, consolidate the Linio marketplace, and expand the Click & Collect mode in all our formats. In our omnichannel proposal we consider an organic expansion in the markets in which we operate, covering mainly areas in which we are currently not present, and the remodeling of our stores and shopping centers to make the most of our valuable assets. In addition we will focus on the establishment of Ikea in Chile, Peru and Colombia and the opening of new Sodimac stores in Mexico together with the expansion of the Falabella Soriana credit card in that country.
All these investments are sustained in an organization that reacts with agility and transparency to all these challenges. An organization that we have simplified and will continue simplifying to streamline decision making even more. Within this simplification process, CMR integrated into Banco Falabellla. We will continue reviewing our processes and systems, to become efficient for the benefit of our clients which are the focus of all our decisions.
As well, in 2018 we maintained the emphasis on the permanent improvement of our corporate governance and having a sustainable operation, with special concern in cybersecurity challenges and transparent behavior. Another of our constant challenges was the attraction and development of local talent, respecting diversity and promoting gender equality together with internal meritocracy.
I can’t finish this letter without thanking all our employees, who with hard work and dedication allow us to satisfy our clients. I also want to thank the Board of Directors of Falabella and its subsidiaries as well as the management team for their support and commitment. Finally, thank the shareholders who trust us and want to be part of this trip that will allow us to increase our leadership in the Latin American commerce.
Thank you,
Carlo Solari Donaggio
Chairman of the Board