E-commerce in Mexico

The e-commerce market in Mexico in 2015 was estimated by Forbes to be 12 billion U.S. dollars^[1] and by the Mexican Internet Association AMIPCI to be 257.1 billion Mexico pesos (about 15.6 billion U.S. dollars).^[2] This represented 1.6–2% of all retail sales vs. a global average of 7%.^[3][4]

Characteristics of the market[]

E-commerce takes place via Web and apps but also via WhatsApp,^[5] Facebook Messenger (in some cases using chatbots), and leads generated on social media.

It was estimated in 2016 that 70% of Mexicans had access to Internet. E-commerce volume grew 900% from 2009 to 2015.^[2]

While debit and credit cards are used for payments, cash is also important, with nearly half of Mexicans having used cash to pay for an e-commerce purchase. The transaction is completed online and the website provides a reference number, which the customer must give together with the cash to the convenience store, supermarket or bank accepting the cash and which charges a commission.^[6]

Associations[]

Organizations include the Asociación de Internet.mx (formerly AMIPCI),^[7] and AMVO (Asociación Mexicana de la Venta Online)^[8] which organizes the annual HotSale, a sale on e-commerce channels only across a broad range of Mexican retailers.

By industry[]

Retailers[]

Leaders in clothes retailing include Liverpool, MercadoLibre and . Only grocery retailing is led by Walmart, Superama and Soriana. Leaders in electronics are MercadoLibre, Amazon Mexico and Linio, the latter originally launched by Rocket Internet.^[4] Leaders in Home Improvement include The Home Depot.

Delivery[]

Rappi, Cornershop and deliver groceries from various retailers (in some cases competing with the retailers' own delivery services), while and Uber Eats deliver food from restaurants.^[9]

Transportation[]

Uber and Cabify compete for the taxi and car share business,^[9] while the four largest Mexican airlines Aeroméxico, Volaris, Interjet and Viva Aerobús all have an important e-commerce and social media presence.^[10] Aeroméxico in particular publicized its digital transformation as a key pillar of its strategy,^[11] and has expanded its sales and service to a chatbot on Facebook Messenger.^[12]

Entertainment[]

Netflix and Claro Video and Blim compete in offering streaming entertainment to Mexican households.^[13] while Spotify dominates in streaming music.

Startups[]

Startup incubators/accelerators such as MassChallenge and Plug and Play are present with Mexican programs^[14] and WeWork and local alternatives provide office space. Many corporates have innovation programs including Nestlé,^[14] Scotiabank^[15] and Aeroméxico.^[16][12] INADEM, Instituto Nacional para el Emprendedor (National Institute for the Entrepreneur), part of the Economics Ministry, provides support to startups.^[17]

References[]