Brazil has become the fastest growing Ecommerce country in Latin America and in second, globally, after China.
Ecommerce research, analysis, and news outlet Internet Retailer (to whom we partnered with at IRCE 2014) has recently released its "Latin America 500” annual report. The report is a study overlooking a collected 500 Latin American merchants spanning over 12 countries at 128 data points. These points include sales growth rates, web traffic, average checkouts, social media prominence, and more.
The primary data found in the report shows a 23% increase in online sales for 2013, resulting in Ecommerce sales reaching $17.94 billion. From the top 500 Latin American merchants, 299 of them were based in Brazil.
"The 2014 FIFA World Cup might be over, but e-commerce eyes the world over are still fixated on Brazil, the country whose online retail sales growth far outpaced that of the U.S. last year, even as overall economic growth rates slowed down in that country," stated Jack Love, Internet Retailer chairman and publisher.
Brazil alone was responsible for $11.7 billion, or 44.5%, of all Latin American sales. For a sense of scale, Brazil’s online sales accounted for 3x more than those made in Mexico and Argentina combined.
International firms fared well alongside local sellers with Amazon raking in $475 million from Latin America alone. Brazil favored Amazon as well, by taking the lion’s share of the sales. Brazil is now Amazon’s largest foreign market. Amazon is currently working on adding a Portuguese-language printed book section to its Brazilian outlet to try and cash in more on the market.
"A strong case can be made for U.S. e-retailers to begin their pursuit of global e-commerce opportunities by first going south of their own border, where markets are closer, cultures are familiar and American brands are highly desired," Love added.
Latin America and Brazil in particular contain highly desired markets for foreign firms. Localized Ecommerce payment solutions such as Boleto Bancario can cause obstacles for companies looking to enter the market full force. According to the report it would seem like an obstacle worthy of overcoming.
