During the last six years e-commerce in Colombia has increased remarkably.
According to a study published by the Colombian Chamber of E-Commerce, approximately 82% of the Colombian population over the age of 15 years now is online every day of the week.
Growth of e-commerce has occurred in all segments of society, despite challenges faced by the most vulnerable of the country’s population. Smartphones are the first means by which users in the country transact online (93%), followed by laptops (36%), desktops (28%), smart televisions (16%), and tablets (11%).
What’s been the impact of COVID-19 on Colombian e-commerce?
The arrival of the coronavirus has had an impact worldwide, Colombia not withstanding. For example, in Colombia’s capital of Bogota, messaging and home services have increased by 28%, a higher figure compared to last March.
In a study carried out by MercadoLibre, 4 out of 10 Colombians had changed their purchasing habits through e-commerce as a result of COVID-19.
In the last four weeks in the country, there’s been a reported increase of 190,000 searches related to products in health categories such as face masks (10 million), antibacterial (3.5 million, gel alcohol (8.5 million), thermometers (1 million ) among others.
Searches related to products for health protection have increased 11x more than usual. Purchases of basic necessities have also increased, specifically groceries, personal hygiene products and medications.
In total MercadoLibre’s platform registered more than 1.7 million new users in Latin America. Since Covid’s arrival in the region, of which 56% made at least 1 or 2 purchases within the platform, 20% made at minus 2 purchases and 24% made more than 3 purchases.
E-commerce has increased over 1000% in past decade
In 2018 Colombia ranked fourth in Latin America in sales via e-commerce, with $6 billion USD in sales being recorded.
Adobe, the Fortune 500 tech behemoth, this past quarter partnered with Medellin multinational Talos Digital in a collaboration aiming to expand e-commerce footprints in Latin America. According to Talos, the e-commerce market in Latin America will reach $70 billion USD in 2020.
While there are a number of ways e-commerce needs to improve in the region, including in shipping and transportation, the region has been consolidating itself into one of the most attractive markets in the world.
By 2021, e-commerce retail sales in Colombia are expected to exceed $ 10 billion, thus bringing the country to the same level as countries like Argentina and Mexico. Brazil today remains the country with the highest sale of e-commerce in Latin America.
