Internet shopping has grown exponentially throughout Latin America, with some countries reporting up to 500% increases in online purchases. As consumers have flocked to e-commerce, so too have sellers. Tiendanube, an e-commerce platform for small businesses, added 35,000 new clients in the first months of the pandemic. Mastercard data shows that Chile (57%), Puerto Rico (48%), Peru and Argentina (44%), Colombia and Mexico (42%), and Brazil (41%), have been the countries with the largest increases in e-commerce this year. Other countries, such as Panama (16%), Guatemala (13%), Ecuador (12%), Peru and Jamaica (10%), also registered strong growth. Before the pandemic, e-commerce had been experiencing a rapid rise in the region, and this was only accentuated by quarantines. Amid the growth in e-commerce, several aspects stand out. Artificial intelligence is improving the customer experience, logistics upgrades are making online shopping easier, and the rapid evolution is proving a lifeline for small businesses.
Logistics, particularly in terms of delivery times, continues to be one of the biggest challenges for all e-commerce players – both large and small. Indeed, most complaints about e-commerce experiences stem from poor delivery. Most consumers rate “zero contact” as the most important element in online purchasing, she says. Some 64% of Latin Americans buy online not because it is necessarily cheaper, but to minimize exposure to coronavirus. The fear of online payments, related to the sharing of bank data and card cloning, was a constraint that overshadowed the sector for a long time, according to Nielsen. That has been overcome, in part, thanks to the spread of home delivery platforms, such as Rappi or Uber, which democratized not only access to e-commerce but also to new forms of payment. Artificial intelligence is already being used in e-commerce in Latin America – but greater use of the technology could improve customer experiences. The e-commerce boom is not exclusive to the big marketplaces, but it also opened a possibility of “survival” for small and medium traders, who saw in the digital world an immediate solution to the closure of stores and social distancing.