Launching e-commerce in Brazil in 3 months: the Hey Harper Case
Key points
- Hey Harper, a Portuguese waterproof jewelry brand, launched a full local e-commerce operation in Brazil in under 3 months — from first contact in December to first sale after Carnival.
- The operation covered product import, local stock setup, Brazilian website, order fulfillment, and payment processing — all managed by Novatrade, with Hey Harper focused on marketing.
- The LEAP™ Agile Framework structured the timeline: each phase fed directly into the next, eliminating the coordination gaps that slow most market entries.
- For foreign brands without a Brazilian CNPJ, the IOR (Importer of Record) structure allows legal import and local stock operation from day one.
- Timeline viability depends on product category: fashion jewelry had a clean regulatory path. Categories requiring ANVISA or INMETRO approvals follow a different schedule.
Index
- What Hey Harper needed
- How the operation was built
- 3-month timeline: from contact to first sale
- The result: first sale after Carnival
- What this model looks like for other brands
- Is this the right model for your product?
- Frequently asked questions
Launch e-commerce in Brazil in 3 months. First sale. Full operation running. That’s what it took for Hey Harper to go from initial contact with Novatrade to selling waterproof stainless steel jewelry to Brazilian consumers — with local stock, import handled, order fulfillment live, and a Brazil-specific website up.
For a Portuguese brand with no prior presence in Brazil, that timeline is not typical. Most companies spend months just figuring out what they don’t know. Hey Harper didn’t have that problem — because they didn’t try to figure it out alone.
What Hey Harper needed
Hey Harper sells jewelry built to last in water — stainless steel pieces, some with 14k gold, at an average retail price of around R$250. The product works for Brazil: the country has one of the largest jewelry markets in Latin America, and Brazilian consumers buy online. The question was never whether the product would sell. It was how to get it there.
Launching e-commerce in Brazil as a foreign brand involves a specific set of decisions that need to happen in the right order: import structure, customs clearance, local stock setup, order management, website localization, payment methods. Each one depends on the one before it. Skip a step or get the sequence wrong, and you’re looking at delayed shipments, tax exposure, or a site that accepts orders it can’t fulfill.
Hey Harper needed a partner that could handle all of it — not a logistics provider, not a consultant, not a compliance advisor. All of it, end to end.
How the operation was built
Novatrade ran the full setup under its LEAP™ Agile Framework — the structured methodology used for every market entry project. LEAP breaks the process into four phases: Learn, Execute, Adapt, Perform. For Hey Harper, the Learn phase was short, because the product category was clear and the market opportunity was already validated.
Execution covered everything the brand needed to start selling:
- Product import and customs clearance into Brazil
- Local stock creation and warehouse setup
- Brazilian e-commerce website, fully localized
- Order preparation and fulfillment (pedido management)
- Payment processing and order management infrastructure
Hey Harper’s team stayed focused on what they’re actually good at: marketing and sales. Novatrade handled everything behind it. That’s the 360° model — the client owns the brand decisions, Novatrade owns the operational layer.
3-month timeline: from contact to first sale
The result: first sale after Carnival
First contact happened in December. By March, Hey Harper was selling in Brazil. The launch landed right after Carnival — which, given Brazilian consumer behavior around that period, was well-timed for a jewelry brand.
Three months from zero to operational is achievable when the process is structured from day one. When each phase feeds directly into the next — import clearance into stock setup, stock into fulfillment, fulfillment into the live website — there’s no waiting around. The LEAP framework exists precisely to avoid the back-and-forth that slows most market entries down.
What this model looks like for other brands
Hey Harper’s situation is common among European D2C brands looking to launch e-commerce in Brazil: a product that works, a team focused on brand and marketing, and no operational infrastructure in-country. The local e-commerce model Novatrade runs for these companies covers the full stack — import, stock, fulfillment, website, payments — so the brand doesn’t need to build any of it internally.
The alternative is to try to assemble that infrastructure piece by piece: find a customs broker, find a warehouse, find a fulfillment partner, build a local site. That process takes longer, creates dependencies between providers who don’t talk to each other, and leaves the brand managing coordination instead of growth.
For brands that want to set up local stock in Brazil without opening a subsidiary, the IOR (Importer of Record) structure is what makes it legally viable. Novatrade acts as the importer, holds the necessary registrations, and handles tax compliance — so the foreign brand can operate without a Brazilian CNPJ from day one.
| Aspect | DIY (assembling providers) | Novatrade 360° model |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first sale | 6–12 months (coordination gaps, sequential bottlenecks) | 3 months (structured phases, single owner) |
| Import & customs | Separate customs broker — requires CNPJ or own IOR arrangement | Handled under Novatrade’s IOR — no CNPJ needed from the brand |
| Local stock | Separate warehouse contract, separate fulfillment provider | Included — single integrated setup |
| Brazil website | Separate agency or internal resource, separate localization | Built and configured as part of the launch |
| Payment methods | Separate payment gateway setup (Pix, boleto, installments) | Configured within the same operation |
| Brand team focus | Managing multiple vendors and timelines | Marketing and sales only |
| Coordination risk | High — each provider has its own timeline and dependencies | Low — single point of accountability |
Is this the right model for your product?
The local e-commerce model works best for brands with a physical product, an average ticket that supports local inventory (generally above R$150–200), and a team that can handle marketing and customer acquisition. It’s not the right fit for every category — some products require ANVISA registration, INMETRO certification, or other regulatory steps that add time before the first unit can be sold.
Hey Harper’s category — fashion jewelry — had a clean regulatory path. That’s part of why the 3-month timeline held. A cosmetics or food brand would face a different setup, and the timeline would reflect it.
If you’re evaluating a Brazil e-commerce launch, the first question isn’t “how fast can we go live?” It’s “what does our product’s regulatory and import path actually look like?” That assessment takes a few days with the right partner — and it determines everything that comes after.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a Brazilian company to launch e-commerce in Brazil?
No. Using an IOR (Importer of Record) structure, a foreign brand can import products and operate local stock in Brazil without a Brazilian CNPJ. Novatrade acts as the legal importer and handles all tax registration and compliance on the brand’s behalf.
How long does it realistically take to launch e-commerce in Brazil?
For products with a straightforward import path — no mandatory ANVISA or INMETRO approvals — a full local operation can be live in 3 months. Product categories requiring regulatory registration add time: ANVISA cosmetics notification typically takes 4–8 weeks on top of the standard setup timeline.
What does a 360° e-commerce operation in Brazil actually include?
In Novatrade’s model: product import, customs clearance, local stock and warehousing, Brazil-specific e-commerce website, payment methods setup (Pix, boleto, credit card installments), order preparation and fulfillment, and ongoing order management. The brand handles marketing and sales.
What is the LEAP™ framework and why does it matter for Brazil market entry?
LEAP™ is Novatrade’s structured market entry methodology — Learn, Execute, Adapt, Perform. It sequences every step of the launch so that each phase feeds directly into the next, preventing the back-and-forth and coordination gaps that typically delay market entries. For Hey Harper, it was the framework that made a 3-month timeline achievable.
Is local stock always better than cross-border dropshipping for Brazil?
Not always. Local stock delivers faster shipping, lower per-order costs, and full control over the customer experience — but requires upfront inventory investment and a minimum viable order volume to justify it. Cross-border dropshipping works for testing demand before committing to a local operation. The right model depends on your average ticket, product category, and volume projections.
Ready to launch?
Novatrade runs the initial product assessment as part of the first conversation — import path, regulatory requirements, timeline estimate. It takes a few days and determines whether a 3-month launch is realistic for your category.
See how the e-commerce solutions work or get in touch directly to discuss your product and timeline.
