(I) High penetration of social media
As of June 2019, Chile had 13 million active social media users, with a penetration rate of 71%. Among all social media users, 68% visit social networks every day. Chile has 12.3 million Facebook users, of which 51% are women and more than 70% are aged between 18 and 44.
The most popular social networks in Chile are Facebook (68.31%), YouTube (13.46%), Pinterest (9.6%), Twitter (5.53%), Instagram (2%) and Tumblr (0.67%).
(II) Diverse categories of online shopping
Compared with other goods, Chileans prefer to buy technology products such as televisions, mobile phones and video games online. In addition, Chilean consumers also like to buy clothes, shoes, and travel-related products online. According to data from the Chile Digital Foundation, in 2018, 27% of Chileans had purchased certain goods or services online. Brand&Label pointed out that although Chileans basically buy things all year round, seasonal sales or large shopping festivals are the time when the amount of online shopping in Chile grows fastest.
(III) AliExpress is the preferred platform for Chileans to shop online
In Chile, the influence of foreign e-commerce exceeds that of local e-commerce. Chile’s local e-commerce platforms are basically full-category e-commerce, and their influence on Chilean consumers is growing. However, the share of foreign e-commerce companies such as Amazon, eBay, and AliExpress is growing faster, especially AliExpress. During Cyber Monday (Chile’s version of “Double Eleven”) in 2018, AliExpress’s sales in Chile were four times that of Amazon – 3% of online consumption was completed on Amazon, while 12% of online consumption was completed on AliExpress.
Chilean consumers are keen on Chinese products. Chinese smartphones, data cables, and tablets are the most popular online shopping products among Chilean consumers. In addition, shoes and clothing are also hot-selling items, especially sportswear.
(IV) Gradually shifting from traditional supermarket shopping to online
The eighth edition of the Household Budget Survey released by the National Statistics Institute of Chile (INE) shows that Chileans go to the supermarket 4.3 times a month on average, spending about 81,000 pesos (about RMB 805), with an average of 18,000 pesos (about RMB 179) per visit. In the household budget, supermarket shopping expenses are the largest part, and the amount spent on food and non-alcoholic beverages accounts for 18.7% of the total household expenditure. In addition, Chileans shop 4.4 times a month at Cormershop (Chile’s online retail platform), 0.1 percentage point higher than physical stores, and the average expenditure on a single purchase is 27,000 pesos (about RMB 268), which is 1,000 pesos (about RMB 9.9) higher than the data of the chain supermarket Líder.