E-commerce in Mexico


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

Characteristics of the market

E-commerce takes place via Web and apps but also via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, 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.
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.

Associations

Organizations include the Asociación de Internet.mx, and AMVO 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 Privalia. 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. Leaders in Home Improvement include .

Delivery

, Cornershop and Mercadoni deliver groceries from various retailers, while Sin Delantal and Uber Eats deliver food from restaurants.

Transportation

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

Entertainment

and Claro Video and Blim compete in offering streaming entertainment to Mexican households. while Spotify dominates in streaming music.

Startups

Startup incubators/accelerators such as MassChallenge and Plug and Play are present with Mexican programs and WeWork and local alternatives provide office space. Many corporates have innovation programs including Nestlé, Scotiabank and Aeroméxico. INADEM, Instituto Nacional para el Emprendedor, part of the Economics Ministry, provides support to startups.