Latin America has historically been one of the most economically diverse regions in the world. Compared with the development of e-commerce in Europe, the United States, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other regions, the e-commerce market in Latin America is still small. In 2018, Latin America’s e-commerce sales totaled $80 billion, accounting for only 2% of global e-commerce sales.
In Latin America, except for Brazil, where e-commerce development is relatively prosperous, the development of e-commerce in other countries has been hindered by different factors. For example, lack of infrastructure, many restrictions from government regulations, low usage of credit cards or bank cards, insufficient development of the telecommunications industry, etc., prevent the Internet in Latin America from being as popular as in areas where e-commerce is developing rapidly. At the same time, the development of e-commerce in Latin America still faces problems such as online payment fraud and low efficiency of goods distribution. When it comes to Internet entrepreneurship, Latin American countries are also affected by traditional concepts. Many large investors tend to invest funds in traditional enterprises or enterprise groups, and like to use “old economy” indicators to measure “new economies.”
Generally speaking, the Latin American e-commerce market has not yet been deeply studied and developed, and it is considered a “virgin land”
In the development of recent years, the Latin American e-commerce market has gradually become more and more prominent. With their own potential, Latin American e-commerce platforms have also begun to extend olive branches to the world. Many entrepreneurs have gradually discovered that the e-commerce market in Latin America contains huge business opportunities. This chapter will focus on a more in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the Latin American e-commerce market.