Mobile shopping is exploding around the globe. The number of smartphone subscriptions worldwide is projected to double by 2022, leaving mobile’s share of total B2C E-Commerce with a double-digit increase. More than one in three Internet users surveyed across 63 countries already completed a mobile purchase in 2016, with slightly less users also making purchases via apps. Latin America is not far behind in comparison with global standards, with already a quarter of online retail sales coming from M-Commerce.
Latin America will soon be a global competitor on the M-Commerce stage. Not only is the number of smartphone users in this region expected to increase exponentially by 2020, but M-Commerce sales are also forecasted to grow at a sturdy double-digit percentage rate by 2019. However, in most of major countries in Latin America, a higher amount of sales were generated from tablets as compared to smartphones.
Peru is projected to rank first in terms of mobile sales growth rate, followed by Colombia and then Argentina through 2019. However, Brazil is the largest by M-Commerce sales and number of smartphone users. In addition, one-third of E-Commerce sales in this country stemmed from mobile. In Mexico, more than two in three users made purchases online via mobile devices in 2016. Argentina provides another example where a double-digit percentage of online shoppers made their latest online purchases with smartphone, a number highly outranking those who did so with a tablet. Furthermore, Argentina already contains a mobile share in the double-digits from total B2C E-Commerce.
Similar to global surveys, factors such as saving time, convenience, and the ability to get better prices and save money are fostering the world of mobile commerce in Latin America. In Mexico specifically, digital consumers preferred smartphones over other devices for shopping due to the ability to access the Internet from anywhere and at any time, highlighting the relevance of the global need to make mobile platforms more accessible.
If you’re interested in the full report, see the title “Global M-Commerce 2017”.
