Brazil’s e-commerce sales continue to post double-digit growth

See the latest Webshoppers 41 figures from eBit|Nielsen, which is the largest survey of online sales in Brazil.

With sales growth of 16% in 2019, Brazil’s e-commerce industry delivered its best growth of the last five years. That was the conclusion of the 41st edition of Webshoppers, which has been published semiannually by Ebit|Nielsen since 2001. The study, which serves as a compass for the sector, points to a trend of continued growth in online sales in Brazil.

Total sales volume last year came to R$ 61.9 billion, while the number of orders grew by 21%, to 148 million, the highest level since 2013. The successful period positions the e-commerce sector as a market in frank expansion, while representing a safe harbor for growth, in contrast to the country’s overall economic scenario.

The study identified a series of new behaviors and trends among Brazilian consumers. For example, it showed that Black Friday is the most important date for online merchants. With sales of R$ 3.21 billion, the aggressive promotions have become part of the country’s consumer culture and have successfully overcome more cautious consumers, serving as a crucial moment for winning over new e-shoppers. Coming in as a far second was Christmas, with sales of R$ 2.6 billion.

Another important point was the 4% drop in average ticket, which is the worst performance in this indicator since 2013. The explanation is simple: more than 10.7 million people made online purchases for the first ever during the period. The average spending of new consumers was 7% below that of seasoned buyers, which weighed on the result.

The data also showed strong growth in sales made using portable devices. M-commerce, as purchases via mobile devices is known, registered impressive growth of 55%. The segment’s sales volume of R$ 25.9 billion already corresponds to nearly half of all online sales in Brazil.

However, perhaps that most dramatic growth was observed in cross-border e-commerce, which consists of online sales of products from international merchants. Sales volume on international e-commerce platforms grew by 67%, to R$ 12.9 billion, accounting for 17% of Brazil’s total e-commerce sales. The new record confirms the segment’s strong growth trend and highlights the importance of offering local payment means to consumers eager to make purchases from around the globe.

The expectations for 2020 already are mounting for even stronger results, with consumers already turning more and more to online shopping in response to the global pandemic. The initial numbers captured by the study confirm this perception: Online sales grew by 48,3% in the period from March 17 to 27 in relation to the same period last year. People were forced to resort to e-commerce during the crisis, which spurred exponential growth in the number of e-shoppers and drove sales volume growth on digital platforms.

And this robust trend in the industry is expected to continue and intensify even after the pandemic. As such, it is important to understand how digital payment platforms can make your customers’ sales journey more fluid and leverage e-commerce sales in Brazil. Click here to learn more about Bexs Bank’s cross-border payment solutions.