Peru's sales in 2020 increased by 25% year-on-year, and the number of online shoppers exceeded 9 million

Peru has a population of approximately 32 million with an average age of 28.4 years. The Lima Chamber of Commerce ( CCL ) estimates that the number of online shoppers in Peru reached 9 million in 2020, and e-commerce sales increased by 25% year-on-year in 2019.

Online website traffic in Peru surges after quarantine

According to a report by Comscore , a US marketing data analysis agency , online purchases in Peru, Argentina and Chile have achieved the fastest growth in Latin America, and after the social isolation policies were adopted due to the outbreak, the number of visits to e-commerce websites in these three countries saw a "leap-like" growth.

Gustavo Sambucetti , president of the Argentine E-Commerce Association , said that in the field of digital consumption, regional-level growth has lasted for 3 to 4 years, which is consistent with the research data published by various institutions. He also added: " Nearly 2/3 of online shoppers are new users of e-commerce channels. On the one hand, 'old customers' have expanded the product categories purchased online; on the other hand, 'new customers' have been forced to start shopping online due to the need for epidemic isolation."

Digital platform users in Peru grow 3%

Comscore 's research report shows that Chile was the country with the fastest growth in the number of digital platform users in Latin America last year, with an increase of 7%, more than twice that of other Latin American countries; followed by Peru, where the number of digital platform users increased by 3%; other countries such as Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia increased by 2%.

Daniel Falcon, CEO of NEO Consulting, believes that the reason why Peru's digital platform users can achieve a higher growth rate compared to other Latin American countries may be that the penetration rate of digital platforms in Peru itself was relatively low before the outbreak. In other words, it is precisely because Peru itself lags behind other countries that it has such a large room for growth.

Falcon also stressed the diversity of devices that users choose to access digital platforms. Comscore data shows that Peruvians are more likely to use desktop computers to access the Internet, but in Brazil, mobile phones are more common.

Interestingly, Falcon pointed out that the home quarantine policy has broken the monopoly advantage of using mobile phones and other mobile devices to access the Internet. Since everyone is staying at home anyway, it is actually quite convenient to use a desktop computer.

Peruvian consumers have a " special liking" for Facebook

Peru is unique compared to other Latin American countries in terms of social networking. Comscore research shows that most Peruvian consumers use Facebook for online social networking, accounting for as high as 72%, far higher than the share of about 50% in other major Latin American countries.

Moreover, the proportion of Peruvian consumers using other social software such as Instagram is much lower than that of consumers in other countries. It seems that Peruvian consumers have a " special liking and are very dedicated" to Facebook .

However, most Peruvian consumers who use Facebook are adults and the elderly, while young users still mostly flock to Instagram .

Finally, Falcon believes that the gap in digital consumption between Latin American countries is narrowing, and predicts that this will be a trend in the future. He said: "Although Peru lags behind Brazil and Argentina in e-commerce, it is very advanced in the penetration and use of social networks."

This may indicate that the e-commerce layout of social media such as Facebook and Instagram will make a big splash in Peru. As online consumption in Peru continues to become more popular, sellers can also consider entering this young land through social media.

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