Argentina E-Commerce Market Data [2023]

Argentina’s economic troubles continue: it recently devalued the peso by 18% while raising the benchmark interest rate to 118%. Despite these challenges, e-commerce has remained Argentina’s major economic bright spot, with an impressive 28.5% growth for 2022, according to Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI), which is an AMI affiliate focused on global payments market research, including Latin America and its individual e-commerce markets.

Below we provide an extensive data breakdown that features figures from PCMI and other sources. In addition, feel free to explore another resource: Infographic: How Argentines Buy Online.

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Argentina E-commerce Market Overview

According to the Argentine Chamber of Electronic Commerce (CACE, as per its Spanish acronym), Argentina’s e-commerce sales volume went up by 87% during 2022 compared to 2021. Total sales were 2.846 trillion Argentine pesos (US$15.3 billion at the time the CACE published this total in March 2023).

Our affiliate, Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI), uses a different methodology than CACE to calculate the market size, working all merchant verticals, PC, mobile and in-app purchases, cross-border e-commerce transactions using a locally issued card and all card-not-present transactions, such as recurring payments.

As such, PCMI analysis indicates that in 2022 Argentina posted more than US$22.5 billion in sales, which represented 28% growth over 2021.

Projections for Argentina E-Commerce

CACE has not yet published projections for e-commerce in Argentina for 2023 or for a longer period in the future.

According to PCMI analysis, the e-commerce market in Argentina will grow by 26% in 2023 to reach US$28.2 billion. Also, e-commerce in Argentina will have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22% between 2023 and 2026, so e-commerce volume in Argentina will reach US$51.1 billion by the end of 2026.

Top-Selling Products in Argentina’s E-Commerce Market

According to CACE, the top 10 categories purchased via e-commerce in Argentina by 2022 were:

1. Clothing
2. Sportswear and sporting goods
3. Tickets to shows and events
4. Travel tickets and tourism
5. Cell phones and accessories
6. Food and beverages
7. Transportation
8. Audiovisual content and software
9. Classes, seminars, etc.
10. Beauty/personal care products

Top Payment Methods in Argentina’s E-Commerce Market

According to CACE, in 2022 the most common payment methods used for e-commerce shopping in Argentina were:

• Credit card (52%)
• Debit card (38%)
• Digital wallet (22%)
• Transfer (18%)
• Cash (using Rapipago or a similar app) (8%)
• Cash on delivery (8%)

PCMI uses transactional data for this analysis, so as per PCMI the most common payment methods used for e-commerce shopping in Argentina in 2022 were:

• Domestic-only credit cards (34% of total sales)
• Digital wallets (23%)
• Internationally-enabled credit cards (18 %)
• Debit cards (17%)
• Cash vouchers (3 %)
• Bank transfers (2%)
• Otros* (2%)
• Buy Now Pay Later (1%)

*Includes gift cards, cash-on-delivery, direct carrier billing, and other miscellaneous payment methods.

Devices Used for Purchases in Argentina’s E-Commerce Market

CACE data is survey-based. In the organization’s most recent report, shoppers were asked what device they used to make their last online purchase:

55% of consumers in Argentina said they made their last purchase on a mobile device.

40% made their purchases through desktops.

PCMI analysis uses actual year-round e-commerce transaction data. According to PCMI:

• 62% of e-commerce purchases in Argentina in 2022 were made with mobile devices
• 38% of e-commerce purchases in Argentina in 2022 were made via desktop

In 2023, these figures will skew even more towards mobile, as PCMI projects that 69% of Argentines will use mobile devices for e-commerce purchases and 31% will use desktops for e-commerce purchases.

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Argentine E-Commerce Consumer Insights

The following are some interesting aspects of e-commerce consumer behavior, according to CACE:

• 5 out of 10 Argentinian consumers made their online purchases through social media. Of those:
  • 67% of Argentine social commerce consumers have made purchases through Facebook at least once
  • At least 5 out of 10 Argentinian social shoppers have used Instagram to shop online
  • 25% of social commerce consumers in Argentina have used WhatsApp as an online shopping channel

• 8 out of 10 Argentines are aware of the price of the products they buy online and decide to search for promotions and discounts

• 99% of online shoppers in Argentina are satisfied with their shopping experience

• Internet search is the main means of searching for information prior to a purchase (45% of consumers), followed by apps and marketplaces (39%) and brand websites (21%)

Going Further

To learn more about the Argentine e-commerce market, contact PCMI for a deeper, more specific dive that can help with your strategic planning.

PCMI specializes in research and market intelligence for the Argentina and LatAm e-commerce markets in a number of key areas:

• Identifying the major payment methods used in Argentina’s e-commerce markets to help merchants with strategic planning, market entry and market expansion

• Helping merchants understand the cross-border e-commerce potential in Argentina and the practices that can increase cross-border sales

• Using artificial intelligence and machine learning to help e-commerce merchants focused on Argentina to analyze their customer data for a deeper understanding of e-commerce shopper behavior and tendencies so as to refine their marketing tactics, messaging and consumer outreach

Contact PCMI if your company has specific data, market research or market intelligence needs regarding the e-commerce market in Latin America or in specific markets such as Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru.

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AMI provides competitive intelligence, consumer insights and business intelligence for a wide variety of firms operating in both B2B and B2C channels in Latin America. Core industry practices: Payments, Logistics, Energy, Mining, Consumer & Retail, and Insurance. +3,000 projects in over 30 LAC markets.

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