During 2021, Mexico showed positive growth in regarding product sales, including sectors such as hardware, cosmetics and videogames. In fact, retail sales reached pre-pandemic levels in March 2021. And, as is occurring in a number of Latin American countries, e-commerce is growing powerfully. In 2021, online sales in Mexico accounted for 10% of total retail sales, according to Americas Market Intelligence (AMI), and we forecast that in 2022 in Mexico, e-commerce will represent 12% of all retail sales.

As a complement to this article, we also invite you to read: Infographic: How Mexicans Shop Online.

Mexican E-commerce Market Overview

According to AMVO, 2021 e-commerce sales in Mexico were 401.3 billion Mexican pesos (US$19.6 billion), an 27% increase from 2020.

On the other hand, the Hot Sale 2022 report of results by AMVO indicates online sales by 23.2 billion Mexican pesos (US$1,16 billion) during the nine days of the event (from May 23-31, 2022), 25 % growth over 2021.

At Americas Market Intelligence (AMI), we use a different methodology than AMVO to calculate market size, working in 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, AMI analysis indicates that in 2021, the e-commerce market in Mexico produced more than US$48.6 billion in sales.

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Mexico E-commerce Projections for 2022

No substantiated figures appear to have been yet reported by AMVO for Mexico e-commerce sales in 2022, including Q1 or Q2 figures or projections for the whole year.

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E-Commerce Projections for Mexico 2021-2025

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The Top-Selling Services in Mexico’s E-commerce Market

The 2022 report by AMVO also shows the main services that people prefer to buy online in Mexico:

1. Bank services (80%)
2. Suscription services (79%)
3. Services payment (75%)
4. Telecommunications (71%)
5. Travel and transport (64%)
6. Public shows and Events (64%)
7. Urban transportation (64%)
8. Lodging (63%)
9. Cultural content (like music) (61%)
10. Educational courses (50%)
11. Shipping services (49%)
12. Financial services (45%)

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Main Payment Methods Used in E-Commerce in Mexico

The Global Payment Report by FIS indicates the most common payment methods used for e-commerce shopping in Mexico during 2021 as follows:

1. Credit card (35%)
2. E-Wallet (27%)
3. Debit card (19%)
4. Bank transfer (8%)
5. Postpaid (6%)
6. Cash on delivery (3%)
7. Other (1%)

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AMI uses a different methodology. As per AMI the most common payment methods used for e-commerce shopping in Mexico in 2020 were:

1. Credit cards (44%)
2. Debit cards (26%)
3. Cash-based payment methods (9%)
4. Wallets (9%)
5. Bank transfers (2%)
6. Buy Now Pay Later (1.5%)
7. Other (10%)*

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

Main Devices Used for E-Commerce Purchases in Mexico [2021]

AMVO data shows that during 2021:

• 98% of Mexican online shoppers used smartphones
• 70% of Mexican online shoppers used laptops
• 37% of Mexican online shoppers used desktops
• 35% of Mexican online shoppers used tablets

The percentages above are survey-based, with data collected until January 2022, and it is not specified if online purchases were made with these devices. This is not as accurate as transactional data from actual purchases made by Mexican consumers during 2021.

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AMI transactional data indicates that:

• 72% of e-commerce purchases in Mexico in 2021 were made on a mobile device
• 28% of e-commerce purchases in Mexico in 2021 were made from a desktop

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In 2022, the numbers will be as follows:

• In 2022, 23% of e-commerce purchases in Mexico will be made with a desktop computer
• In 2022, 77% of e-commerce purchases in Mexico will be made with mobile devices

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Mexico E-Commerce Consumer Insights

For greater details on the e-commerce process in Mexico, please review our most recent article: The E-Commerce Customer Journey in Mexico. That said, recent data has also uncovered a number of behaviors among Mexican e-commerce shoppers, such as:

• 7 out of 10 Mexican online consumers make purchases or payments online at least once a month (PayPal)

• 97% of consumers in Mexico involve the Internet at some point in the shopping process, even for offline purchases (AMVO)

• 40% of Mexican online buyers are inspired by social networks before making a purchase (Statista)

• Mercado Libre is the preferred marketplace to buy online in Mexico, with 44% of traffic share among competitors (SEMrush)

Top motivator to shop online:

1. Free delivery
2. Coupons and discounts
3. Next-day delivery

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Additional Resources

#1 Our E-Commerce Data Library contains extensive data on Mexico. Click here to find out how to order reports, which can be customized to your needs.

#2 For more specific data, AMI specializes in research and market intelligence for the Mexican and LatAm e-commerce markets in a number of key areas:

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

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

• Using artificial intelligence and machine learning to help e-commerce merchants focused on Mexico 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

Going further

Contact us for deeper insights about e-commerce market in Mexico. We are a solution for companies that has specific data, market research or market intelligence needs regarding the e-commerce market in Mexico, or in specific LatAm markets such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Peru.

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