eCommerce in Latin America - Issues, Penetration, Growth etc.
Browsing on the web I stumbled on a great report, that I decided to put on the blog. This is very informative when you are looking for propect markets in Latin America. I found this on eCommerce Digest.com, they have a great variety of reports on their site. If you have a chance check it out. Although the report has 4 years old the numbers have not changed that much, of course they are a higher!
The Latin American ecommerce market ranks fourth in the world on turnover — after the USA, Europe and Pacific rim countries. Accordingly, though Latin America has seen some of the world’s fastest growth in online business, which will continue — an optimistic Forrester 2000 estimate put Latin American ecommerce at $82 billion in 2004 — ecommerce currently accounts for only a tiny fraction of retail sales. There are marked cultural differences between individual Latin American countries, moreover, and Latino attitudes to Internet business are not always those of their northern cousins.
Current Issues
Problems are those common outside the USA:
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Ecommerce Prospects 2003-4
Internet use should increase steadily throughout the region, with a variety of measures boosting growth in Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Brazil. {7} A July 2001 eMarketer report provided these estimates of Latin American Internet use and ecommerce distribution. {8}
Millions of Internet users:
2001 2002 2003 2004
Brazil 6.1 8.8 12.5 16.4
Mexico 2.3 3.2 4.6 6.4
Argentina 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
Rest of Region 5.5 8.0 11.4 15.0
Total 15.3 22.1 31.0 40.8
Online sales (in US$billion and % of Latin American total):
2002 2004
Brazil 6.5 (68%) 39.9 (60%)
Mexico 1.54 (60%) 13.3 (20%)
Argentina 0.87 (9%) 6.65 (10%)
Rest of Region 0.67 (7%) 6.65 (10%)
Total 9.63 (100%) 66.5 (100%)
Another survey estimated that online sales in Mexico would reach 8.4% of total retail sales in 2004, as opposed to 13.3% for the USA. Despite the economic slowdown, scattered news items suggest sustained confidence in the region. Early in 2002, for example, Yahoo secured a foothold in the Brazilian Internet market by purchasing the search engine Cade and Artikos won three major procurement contracts in Chile seriously in Latin America, though progress will depend on overcoming the problems listed above, which are at least being addressed by the governments concerned. Latin America is the fastest-growing Internet market, but is still the smallest.
What do you think a Latin America as a market for your products or services?
Would Latin America Stay in the number four position?