With Workflow Optimization, Olist Boosts Productivity and Unlocks Exponential Growth
At just six years old, Olist, an e-commerce solutions ecosystem for retailers and digital brands, has already achieved milestones that only a few companies can claim.
In 2021, Olist became one of Brazil’s newest unicorns and topped the Endeavor ranking of fastest-growing companies. In 2022, it was one of the five Brazilian companies featured on Growjo’s list of the world’s fastest-growing startups.
These significant achievements were reached over the past two years, a period that included a strategic partnership with Meta. According to Bruno Martins, CTO of Olist,
“Meta was one of the key partners in this journey, helping Olist grow by more than 200%, triple in size, and reduce the effort required to integrate a new marketplace into our platform by approximately 95%.”
Technology as a Catalyst for Growth
The partnership began with an architecture planning initiative for sales channels, but it quickly expanded beyond that. Meta’s role at Olist was to transform technology into a driving force for growth.
“As digital transformation specialists, we know that change isn’t just about replacing or implementing new technology—it’s about people and culture. That’s what we brought to Olist,” says Jhonatan Ventorini, Account Executive at Meta.
From there, Meta became a strategic business partner.
“Through software engineering, we reassessed Olist’s entire existing architecture, focusing not only on technology but also on business value and current needs,” Ventorini explains.
Accelerating Growth Through Channel Integration
Sales channel integration is a core aspect of Olist’s business model. Optimizing the architecture of these channels to streamline the process was crucial in enabling Olist’s expansion.
“Technology was the foundation of our collaboration, but our partnership with Meta has expanded into other areas, from product design to HR, as well as strengthening key tech capabilities such as information security, SRE, and more,” Martins adds.
THE ACCELERATION JOURNEY
Olist’s success story is also one of overcoming major challenges. With a mission to empower commerce by connecting sellers to marketplaces, the company found itself in a rapidly expanding market due to the acceleration of digitalization brought on by the pandemic. However, to meet the growing number of merchants who needed to sell their products in a world where physical stores were closing, Olist had to accelerate its own internal processes.
In addition, the company had secured a significant financial investment and needed to ensure rapid growth while maintaining agile, solid, and transparent processes for governance, procurement, budgeting, information security, and more. It was at this pivotal moment that Olist partnered with Meta, combining acceleration with scalability to drive exponential growth.
Breaking Bottlenecks in Sales Channel Integration
The first major challenge was accelerating the integration of new sales channels, which at the time took between six and nine months for technical integration—plus additional time for the channel to mature within the platform.
This slow and resource-intensive process required a large team of developers and lacked the agility demanded by the market.
“It was a long timeline, especially given our growth targets. That’s when I brought in Meta to work with us on architecting a scalable solution,” recalls Bruno Martins, CTO of Olist.
Meta designed a more robust architecture that seamlessly integrated with existing systems while allowing scalability for both processes and business expansion.
With Meta’s expertise and deep involvement, Olist achieved a 95% reduction in effort required for launching a new sales channel on its platform. What previously took months is now completed in just four weeks with a leaner team of only four developers.
Meta understood from the outset that an architectural approach focused on process scalability would have a direct business and financial impact.
“This architecture project was a turning point for me because it proved the value of having a specialized architecture team and how it can propel business growth. Today, we have an in-house architecture department with incredibly talented architects who are always ahead of the business needs,” says Martins.
A Strategic Partnership Beyond Technology
Meta’s ability to develop solutions at the speed Olist needed was a key success factor. However, what truly elevated Meta to a strategic technology partner was its deep understanding of Olist’s business and its needs.
“I need to understand the client’s objectives and challenges first—then, the technology adapts to those needs,” explains Jhonatan Ventorini, Account Executive at Meta.
According to Bruno Martins, Meta stands out from other consultancies because of its flexibility and openness to co-create customized solutions.
“I’ve always seen Meta’s openness to designing the right solution for each client. I’ve worked with Meta even before joining Olist, in other companies, and I know how deeply Meta embraces the client’s vision and tailors solutions accordingly,” says Martins.
Meta’s collaboration extended beyond technology, providing a holistic view of Olist’s needs and helping to restructure talent acquisition processes.
“Meta helped us rethink our HR processes, making our hiring faster and more effective so that we can compete for top talent more efficiently,” Martins adds.
