Amazon.com Inc. today announced its expansion in Mexico. Amazon.com.mx, the retailer’s Spanish-language site that launched in 2013 selling Kindle Store e-books, now offers millions of other goods in about a dozen product categories including consumer electronics, video games, sports and outdoors, kitchen and home, tools and home improvement, health and personal care, baby products, music, movies and TV series, and books. Shoppers will receive free shipping on orders greater than MXN 599 ($38.18) that are fulfilled by Amazon and will be able to shop online and use the Amazon iTunes and Google Play app on mobile devices.
Amazon, No. 8 in the Internet Retailer 2014 Latin America 500, says Amazon.com.mx will feature more product categories than any other international Amazon web site has featured at launch. Amazon also rolled out its Selling on Amazon service for Mexican businesses and its Fulfillment by Amazon service, which will provide Mexican retailers with storage, packing and shipping services.
Amazon is No. 1 in the Internet Retailer 2015 Top 500 Guide.
Amazon’s arrival in Mexico could have an immediate impact on the e-commerce landscape as it competes with e-commerce leaders in the region like MercadoLibre, Walmart Latin America and Inditex Group. Despite its population of over 110 million, Mexico’s e-commerce industry is small. But it is growing According to a report from business research firm Forrester Research Inc., total Mexican online retail spending, which excludes marketplaces, ticketing and travel sites, grew about 21.7% to about $2.8 billion in 2014 and is projected to grow another 139% by 2019. The Forrester report says the country’s number of online shoppers is projected to more than double over the next five years, from 10.1 million in 2014 to 21.1 billion in 2019.
That growth is expected to continue as more shoppers in Mexico come online, the main reason Amazon and other American e-retailers view Mexico as a major opportunity. Digital marketing firm eMarketer expects about 65 million Mexicans to join the web in 2015, making Mexico the eighth largest population of Internet users in the world. David Bernardo, a partner at e-commerce consultancy LITSebusiness.com, says Mexico has less “bureaucratic red tape” than Brazil, a more established e-commerce market, a more open economy with strong trade agreements with the U.S., and a 30% higher gross domestic product per capita, suggesting it has a stronger economy than the larger Brazil.