Brazil’s retail e-commerce is expected to more than double from 70 billion reais in 2018 to 185 billion reais ($34.5 billion) in 2023, with the average order value growing from 435 reais to 470 reais over the same period. according to To the Brazilian Electronic Commerce Association.
By comparison, U.S. retail e-commerce sales in 2023 were $1.14 trillion, according to eMarketer.
In Brazil, perfumes and cosmetics will be the most commonly ordered online in 2023, followed by home goods and interior, health and food and beverages.
According to Brazil-based analytics firm ECBD, electronics will account for 31% of total e-commerce revenue in 2023, followed by fashion at 27%, hobbies and leisure at 14%, and furniture and home goods at 11%.
Mercado Libre is a dominant force in e-commerce.latin americaIt was Brazil’s most-visited retail website in March, with more than 216 million visits, followed by Amazon, Shopee, OLX and Ali Express, all marketplaces. US-based Amazon.com had 3.15 billion visits in March.
In the first quarter of 2024, about 16% of all retail sales in Brazil came from digital channels such as apps, sites and emails, roughly on par with the United States for the same period. In ChinaE-commerce accounted for 23% of total retail sales in the first quarter.
Overseas seller
According to a 2024 study commissioned by Alibaba, cross-border e-commerce in Brazil accounts for just 0.5% of total retail sales, likely due to the difficulty of doing business in the country.
Despite consumer demand for items like mobile phones, designer clothes and baby products, bringing the goods into the country is expensive and difficult.
“Doing business in Brazil requires in-depth knowledge of the local environment and is subject to high direct and indirect costs of doing business,” the U.S. International Trade Administration said. Regulators have tried reforms for years but continue to face complex tax systems, restrictive labor laws and onerous import barriers.
These obstacles have limited access to international goods overall, leading many Brazilians to shop abroad.
Last year, Brazilian lawmakers enacted a tax exemption for online purchases under $50 from foreign merchants, but a backlash from domestic sellers has led to the measure being rolled back and potentially replaced with a 20 percent fee. Purchases over $50 are already subject to a 60 percent tax.
Brazil’s logistics are a barrier to e-commerce Inadequate infrastructure It is the world’s fifth largest country, with most of its land area covered by tropical rainforest. Roads are inadequate and poorly maintained, ports have limited capacity, and cargo theft is a problem.
This is because inflation has risen to its highest level in five years. monthly It will reach a peak of 12% in April 2022.
payment
Despite these challenges, Brazil has successfully modernized payments: In 2020, the Central Bank of Brazil introduced Pix, a real-time payments system that does not require a bank account and allows payments to be made with just an email address, phone number, or local ID.
By 2023, Pix will account for 41% of all retail transactions online and in stores, with credit cards accounting for 15% and debit cards for 13%. Buy now, pay later services are also popular.
Brazil is Latin America’s largest economy, accounting for 57% of e-commerce sales and is expected to grow about 14% annually through 2026, according to global research firm Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence.
This growth was driven by the pandemic, with Brazilians who did not fully trust the web. Get online anywayHowever, according to the World Bank, Brazil remains one of the most unequal countries, with the bottom 40% of households earning less in 2021 than they did in 2016. Falling employment, continuing inflation and reduced government support are likely to limit e-commerce growth, at least in the medium term.
