I cannot begin my review of 2022 without mentioning the challenges we have faced, while expressing my confidence that, even though the traced path is complex, it is essential to securing Falabella's long-term success.
Successful retailers in developed markets have outgrown their significant competitors by increasing their market share empowered by e-commerce. This is a business where economies of scale are very important to procure the best products in the world, make appropriate investments in technology and logistics, be the best partner to suppliers, and attract the best talent to respond to customers with the best shopping experience.
E-commerce has penetrated every retail category without exception. From food to luxury products, their coverage is increasing in every country, regardless of customers’ ages. Online sales continue to grow with no foreseeable ceiling and already account for more than 80% of sales in some categories, this is also true in the countries that we operate. Increases in e-commerce over the past five years account for more than 50% of total growth in the USA, Great Britain, China and Korea. So, the growth in e-commerce is greater than growth in physical commerce. If we want to remain the region's retail leaders over the long term, then we have to be e-commerce leaders.
The marketplace model in developed countries has become the undisputed leader in e-commerce. Depending on the country, between 50% to 80% of e-commerce sales take place on marketplaces. Therefore, Falabella has anticipated this trend by changing how it operates and created a unique Marketplace under the falabella.com brand. GFK studies indicate that we are clearly leaders in Chile and Peru within key marketplace categories, such as electronics and appliances, and we are one of the leaders in Colombia. We believe that making this transformation now, when we are market leaders, is the right thing to do to maintain our regional leadership.
We are undergoing the biggest transformation in the company's history. We are digitizing Falabella and creating a single Marketplace with its associated platforms to provide our customers with customized and specialized solutions for each operating company, complementing their experiences at our physical retailers. Our organization has had to learn how to share specific IT and logistics solutions and to change how we operate.
We faced a challenging environment during 2022, which was very different from the previous year. The reduction in government support and pension fund withdrawals added to the inflationary climate, heavily impacted our customers. This situation led them to reduce consumption on categories such as electronics, house construction and remodeling, and apparel, which are key for our company, as opposed to other more stable categories such as food.
We also faced a very difficult operational environment. The pandemic forced many factories to close in several of the countries where we source our goods and this was coupled with excessive demands on the logistics market, all of which impacted our supply chain and there were times during the year when we had very little merchandise in our stores, followed by an excessive volume of merchandise arriving out of season. These situations had a tremendous impact on our commercial margins, in addition to logistics expenses, warehousing costs and the resulting additional financial costs.
At Falabella Financiero, the strong growth we have experienced in recent years in number of customers, credit cards, checking accounts and consumer loans, combined with a year in recession an slowdown in the economies, have forced us to increase our risk provisions. This situation is inevitable as our customers have seen their household income decrease and have had to dip into their savings.
During 2022 our company finished commercial adjustments, reduced inventories and made large financial provisions to prepare for a more challenging environment. Furthermore, most of the technological systems for the marketplace and its associated platforms have already been implemented. As a result, we have already achieved greater operational efficiencies.
We have re-arranged priorities focusing the company's resources on the initiatives that are most valued by customers. We are aware that healthy business results and operational efficiencies are vitally important to support the company's digital transformation.
We have returned to living in a world with fewer pandemic restrictions in 2022, which brought customers back to our shopping malls and stores. This influx of people in search of products and entertainment boosted physical sales, which in turn, reduced consolidated e-commerce sales. This confirms the validity of our omni-channel strategy, which underlines the value of our stores and shopping centers as differentiators that complement our online platforms.
We now have a far more personal relationship with our customers, with a loyalty system they prefer, high customer satisfaction and greater understanding of their requirements. Improvements and advances scheduled for the e-commerce business, along with our core business returning to normal in 2023, all make me optimistic about Falabella's future.
In summary, after an exceptional year in 2021, 2022 has been a very difficult year, of which we are all very conscious. We are following an essential but difficult path, although an important part has already been completed.
We have grown from a tailor's shop on Ahumada Street in Santiago, Chile, to a multinational with a significant coverage in Latin America. Over the past 134 years, we have had to redouble our efforts on several occasions to maintain our leadership position.
But I have no doubt that we can follow the example set by our predecessors, and we will strengthen and expand our company with sufficient realism to make the required adjustments, when necessary.
I cannot end this letter without thanking our shareholders, directors, executives and all our employees for the support and trust they have placed in us to carry out this transformation. We have a team that is committed to being successful. I am confident that we will harvest the benefits and maintain our leadership position in commerce and retail finance, both in our physical and online realms.
Carlo Solari Donaggio
Chairman