E-commerce in Latin America to surpass $16 billion this year, Visa says

E-commerce in Latin America to surpass $16 billion this year, Visa says

Category

E Commerce

Retail e-commerce in Latin America, including travel and tourism, rose to nearly $11 billion in 2007, up from about $5 billion in 2005 and $7.78 billion in 2006, and is expected to surpass $16 billion this year and reach nearly $30 billion by 2010, Visa Inc. says in a new study, “B2C Electronic Commerce in Latin America and the Caribbean: Beating All Odds.”

The study, using figures from AmericaEconomia Intelligence, notes that Brazil was the largest retail e-commerce market last year with $4.9 billion in online sales, followed by Mexico, $1.38 billion. Venezuela showed the sharpest growth last year, with retail e-commerce sales rising 68% to $821 million from $490 million in 2006.

Following are the retail e-commerce sales figures for leading Latin American markets, with sales in millions of dollars for 2007, 2006 and the percent change:

Brazil, 4,899; 3,541; 38%
Mexico, 1,377; 868; 59%
Venezuela, 821; 490; 68%
Caribbean (except Puerto Rico), 818; 585; 45%
Argentina, 739; 619; 19%
Chile, 687; 472; 46%
Central America, 499; 360; 39%
Puerto Rico, 445; 384; 16%
Peru, 218; 145; 50%
Columbia, 201; 175; 15%
Others, 203; 165; 23%

Although the study doesn’t break out e-commerce sales by product category, it includes aggregated responses from consumers regarding which categories they shop online. Following are the categories cited by consumers, with the percentage of consumers saying they shop each category:

Books, music, movies, 21.4%
Tourism and travel, 16.9%
Electronics, 13.9%
Software, 12.3%
Appliances, 9.1%
Services, 7.7%
Flowers, gifts, 6.7%
Food, 4.3%
Games, 3.1%
Spare parts, 2.8%
Furniture, 1.8%

http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=27032