Silvia Naishtat
07/15/2021 11:18 AM
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 07/15/2021 11:18 AM
Mercado Libre's first operation was the sale of live deer from a Cordovan field.
It was 1999 and Marcos Galperin had just founded the company at the age of 27.
It was not bad: it is
the most valuable company in Latin America,
surpassing giants like Petrobras and Vale.
The pandemic grew dramatically in
the most digital year in history.
Stated to measure amazing data jump.
For example, despite the confinement due to the pandemic and changes in mobility,
the most sought after in Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay were cars and motorcycles.
In Chile, on the other hand, furniture and articles for the home.
This is detailed in a report about what happened in the main countries in which they operate in the region, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay and Chile.
In the Argentine case,
articles for the home, furniture for the interior and the garden occupy the second place
.
This is followed by accessories for vehicles, tools for the home and,
finally, clothing and personal care items
.
By the way, the ecommerce channel grew exponentially in all categories, led by
224% in the case of mass food consumption
.
And here the quarantine played a key role since online shopping in supermarkets became a habit for many.
What products are sought in Mercado Libre.
Not less data is the time it takes for deliveries.
In Argentina,
seven out of ten shipments are made in one day or less.
In Colombia there are 6 but in Chile and Uruguay there are eight out of 10 which shows a more fluid logistics than in Argentina.
Special dates also have a strong influence on online purchases, largely due to promotions.
Chileans are ahead with a 337% increase in the 2020 shopping season compared to 2019 for Cyber Monday or Black Friday.
Argentina follows with 115%.
Thus, in one year
digital buyers in the region grew 47%
and in turn buy more often.
In the case of Uruguay, they repeat the purchase on average at 14 days and in Argentina, at 18. In addition, six out of 10 new buyers used the channel again.
In turn, Mercado Libre was transformed into a product search platform.
Here it is used by
78% of digital surfers who spend about 49 minutes per month.
There are categories that grew exponentially, such as searches for Notebooks that rose
90% in the country.
In Chile it was 374%.
In the same line, with an increase of 190%, did the bookstore articles.
More surprises.
Perhaps due to being at home
, card games grew 254%, dolls 453%, and toy cars, 189%.
Games were also uploaded on the internet.
At the same time, other categories appeared, such as tools for home repairs, with a growth of 140%.
And in terms of clothing, the most sought after were
pajamas and underwear, which rose 239%.
Skin and hair care creams took another leap.
And in the sports area, the most requested by far were bicycles.
Growth of Mercado Libre orders in Argentina in 2019 and 2020.
The report states that e-commerce stopped being a trend to become a habit to continue on the rise.
This year six out of ten online buyers
are acquiring more than last year
in Argentina and Uruguay when in Chile and Colombia they reached eight out of ten.
In Mercado Libre, it is known that nothing is said in the world of technology companies.
And this year they are adding
more categories in the region and are especially pushing faster deliveries in Argentina.
Look also
Mercado Libre launches its own electronic and bicycle brands
Job search: what are the 10 most demanded jobs
The unicorn club gets bigger: Argentina's Aleph is worth US $ 2 billion