In Latin America, Mercado Libre, as a leading e-commerce technology company, has become a powerful force in the region’s e-commerce market. Since its establishment in 1999, Mercado Libre has grown rapidly in 18 countries and regions in Latin America, not only successfully becoming one of the world’s top ten e-commerce platforms, but also surpassing Amazon’s platform in the Latin American e-commerce market with its influence. For domestic cross-border e-commerce sellers, the emerging Latin American e-commerce market is undoubtedly an opportunity worth entering. But the question is, does Mercado Libre support third-party warehouses? Below we will explore Mercado Libre’s delivery model, as well as its advantages and challenges in cross-border e-commerce.
1. Analysis of delivery model.
Mercado Libre’s delivery model is similar to Amazon’s, which is mainly divided into the following types: FBM warehouse model, overseas warehouse model and self-delivery model.
1. FBM model.
In the FBM model, the seller delivers the goods to Mercado Libre’s warehouse. When the buyer places an order, the platform is responsible for sorting, packaging and delivery. In this model, the seller has less preliminary work, but there is also the risk of the platform sending the wrong goods. Currently, only Mexico and Chile support the FBM model, which limits the scope of application of this model.
2. Overseas warehouse model.
In the overseas warehouse model, the seller sends the goods to a third-party overseas warehouse in the destination country, which is dispatched by the warehouse and directly delivered to the buyer. Given that Meikeduo has limited self-operated warehouses, the use of overseas warehouses can effectively avoid inventory and distribution problems. Mexico’s overseas warehouses are particularly popular, and its mature logistics system ensures the smooth progress of the last-mile delivery.
3. Self-delivery model.
The self-delivery model is that the seller directly sends the goods to the buyer from the country, which is applicable to Meikeduo’s Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Colombia sites. Self-delivery does not require advance stocking, avoiding the problem of inventory backlog. However, compared with other models, the logistics time of self-delivery is longer, and it is easy to violate the platform’s delivery time regulations, and the risk of package loss is also higher.
2. Does Meikeduo support third-party warehouses?
From the above analysis of the delivery model, it can be seen that Meikeduo supports third-party warehouses to a certain extent. Although the FBM model is currently only available in Mexico and Chile, the overseas warehouse model and the self-delivery model provide sellers with more options. Sellers can solve logistics problems through third-party overseas warehouses to ensure that the goods arrive in the hands of buyers on time. The self-delivery model provides sellers with greater flexibility, without the need to rent warehouses and avoid unsalable inventory.
Currently, the Latin American e-commerce market is booming, with an annual growth rate of up to 20%, a market size of more than 300 billion US dollars, and an e-commerce penetration rate of nearly 70%. In this blue ocean, Meikeduo, as an e-commerce giant, has a huge influence. For sellers who plan to enter the Latin American e-commerce market, Meikeduo is an option that cannot be missed.