A new report titled “Mexico B2C E-Commerce and Payment Market 2020 & COVID-19’s Impact” has been released by Germany-based business research firm yStats.com. The publication details the trends in online retails sales and payment methods in Latin America’s second largest economy in recent months, including the effect of the global coronavirus pandemic.
The coronavirus crisis has accelerated online shopping in Mexico
The onset of the coronavirus pandemic in Mexico has had a major impact on the development of digital commerce and overall retail sales. The long confinement has caused brick-and-mortar retail sales to fall significantly and E-Commerce purchases to rise, surpassing the pre-pandemic predicted growth rate by several percentage points. However, as consumers begin to feel the negative impact of the health crisis and lockdown on their budgets, surveys cited in the yStats.com report indicate that Mexican consumers expect to reduce their overall spending levels, including online. The publication also reports that the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the long-term shift to E-Commerce as a higher proportion of total retail sales.
Online demand for basic necessities like food and clothing surged during the pandemic
Similar to the pattern seen during the COVID-19 crisis in other countries of the world, the product categories of supermarket items, cleaning products and food delivery service have seen a surge in online demand in Mexico, along with fashion products. Online services experiencing double digit increases during a peak month in the pandemic were banking and bill payment, mobile communication and Internet delivery of entertainment and gaming, according to tallies cited in the yStats.com publication. On the other hand, travel services saw and drastic decline during the months of March and April. Cross-border shopping also decreased at the beginning of the crisis.
Initial increase in online purchases taxed delivery infrastructure, website visits surge.
The increase in demand for online products occasioned by the initial COVID-19 confinement resulted in delivery delays, according a survey of Mexican online consumers included in the new yStats.com report, with some respondents also noting an increase in delivery fees. At the same time, the method of payment preferred by online shoppers in Mexico has remained consistent, with debit and credit cards used in about four out of five digital purchases. Debit cards were used by nearly half of the shoppers making purchases in the annual “hot sale” internet event at the end of May. Alternative payment methods such as bank transfer systems and digital wallets are just beginning to get a foothold with Mexican shoppers. While the coronavirus brought increased shopping to most online merchants, with one Mexican store more than doubling its website visits, Latin-American leader Mercado Libre and global giant Amazon continue in the number one and number two rank for online retail clicks in Mexico.
