Ensamblex

The problem

Hardware and computer stores in Colombia and LatAm operate with a structural inefficiency: catalogs in spreadsheets, quotes hand-typed in WhatsApp, no real-time stock visibility, and no history of what was quoted to whom. Average ticket size is high, the sales cycle is short, and the customer’s decision happens in minutes — typically in a WhatsApp conversation.

The market had no vertical-specific solution for this type of store. Generic CRMs are too complex; spreadsheets, too fragile.

Key decisions

Smart catalog with component compatibility. The system suggests compatible components to avoid assembly errors — a critical differentiator in a market where selling RAM incompatible with the motherboard destroys customer trust.

PDF quotes in seconds + WhatsApp sharing. The quotation flow generates a professional document ready to share on WhatsApp. The salesperson goes from “let me check” to “I just sent you the quote” in under a minute.

Cart with direct WhatsApp integration. The customer can build their configuration on the public catalog and send it as a structured message to the salesperson. Reduces friction at the most sensitive point in the sales process.

Multi-branch from the design. Stores with more than one location can manage separate stock per branch from the same dashboard, with centralized visibility.

COP pricing, accessible for the segment. Basic plan at $30,000 COP/month (~$7 USD). The pricing decision is part of the proposition: the store recovers the investment with a single well-quoted sale.

Build

Ensamblex is in its first store cohort — the most valuable moment in vertical product development: the first users teach what flows they actually follow and what the real frictions are versus the assumed ones.

The stack (Laravel + Vue 3 + PostgreSQL) is the same used in larger-scale projects, which reduces technical risk and enables fast movement without architectural debt.

Current state

Product in production, first active cohort. Current iterations are driven by direct feedback from stores in use: what quote fields are missing, how to manage returns in the catalog, integrations with component suppliers.

What I learned

• Niche verticals have a clear competitive advantage — nobody else is building specifically for hardware stores in LatAm with this focus.
• WhatsApp isn’t just a support channel. For this segment, WhatsApp is where the sale closes. The product has to be there.
• 5-minute onboarding is a design constraint, not a marketing claim. If the store can’t start quoting in the first session, the product lost.