Latin American e-commerce sales are expected to grow 25.6% in 2021, the fastest growth rate in the world

Recently, the well-known market research organization eMarketer released a report stating that this year Latin America will continue to maintain its position as the world's fastest growing regional retail e-commerce market, with an estimated growth rate of 25.6% .

In 2019, online retail sales in Latin America accounted for less than 5% of total retail sales, but the region's e-commerce market is growing rapidly. According to eMarketer, last year, retail e-commerce sales in Latin America increased by 63.3% and exceeded the $100 billion mark for the first time, reaching $104.6 billion.

2020 was also a record year for growth in digital buyers in the region. According to eMarketer , 38 million consumers in Latin America made their first digital purchase in 2020. This year, the total number of digital buyers will increase to 248.7 million, nearly half of the region’s population aged 14 and over.

Latin America's e-commerce market saw explosive growth in 2020 , partly due to the lockdown policies during the epidemic. Sao Paulo, Brazil and Buenos Aires, Argentina , have been in lockdown since March 2020 , the longest lockdown in the world .

In addition to the impact of the epidemic, Latin America's industrial development is relatively backward, so goods are scarce and prices are high. Therefore, more and more consumers are willing to buy the goods they need from abroad through online channels.

According to eMarketer's report, among the five countries with the fastest growing e-commerce sales in the world in 2021, three are in Latin America alone, namely Brazil (26.8%), Argentina (26%) and Mexico (21.1%).

Brazil is not only the fastest growing e-commerce market in Latin America , but also the largest e-commerce market in the region, accounting for 25% of the region's e-commerce market sales. But it is worth noting that Brazil is also the only country in Latin America with Portuguese as the official language, so in Latin America, Brazil is an anomaly and exception in many aspects, including in the e-commerce industry. For example, many e-commerce platforms in Latin America almost only target Brazil.

Another trend in the development of e-commerce in Latin America is that the proportion of transactions on mobile devices will continue to increase. From 2016 to 2019, the share of mobile transactions in Latin American retail e-commerce sales almost doubled, from 20.9% to 40.2%. eMarketer predicts that nearly half (48.8%) of retail e-commerce sales will occur on mobile devices this year.

Latin American e-commerce

retail

Brazilian e-commerce