Peru E-Commerce Market Data [2023]

E-commerce and digitization is advancing at a brisk pace in Peru. Solutions like Yape are currently stimulating digital banking. Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI) estimates that each person in Peru spends, on average, US$568 per year on electronic commerce. In addition, e-commerce in Peru now represents 8% of total GDP.

See below for an overview of e-commerce data in Peru, courtesy of AMI’s sister company, Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI), which specializes in payments and e-commerce data for Latin America. You may also read: Infographic: How Peruvians Buy Online.

Peru E-Commerce Market Overview

The most recent report by Cámara Peruana de Comercio Electrónico (CAPECE) indicates that e-commerce sales in Peru reached US$12 billion in 2022, a 30% increase over 2021.

PCMI uses a different methodology than CAPECE to calculate 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, the e-commerce market in Peru posted slightly more than US$19.3 billion in sales, a 49% increase over 2021.

Projections for E-commerce in Peru

PCMI projects that e-commerce in Peru will grow by 32% in 2023 to reach US$25.5 billion.

Also, according to PCMI analysis, the e-commerce market in Peru will grow with a CAGR of 35% between 2023 and 2026. By 2026, e-commerce sales volume in Peru will be US$63.1 billion.

The Top-Selling Products in Peru’s E-commerce Market

CAPECE’s report does not offer a list of the best-selling products in Peru via e-commerce. Instead, it reports on growth in different e-commerce verticals, noting that in 2022, travel/tourism e-commerce grew by 120% in Peru, while digital services grew by 21.8% and retail grew by 9.5%.

On the other hand, the firm ecommerceDB breaks down the most important e-commerce products in Peru based on their respective shares of overall revenue. These are the figures it reported in 2023:

1. Electronics & Media (30.4%)
2. Food & Personal Care (25.2%)
3. Furniture & Appliances (18.3%)
4. Toys, Hobby & DIY (15.3%)
5. Fashion (10.7%)

The Main Payment Methods Used in E-Commerce in Peru

CAPECE report 2021-2022 offers the following breakdown of the most common payment methods used in Peru for e-commerce in 2021:

• Credit (34.5%)
• Debit (33.3%)
• Wallet (21.5%)
• Cash voucher (7.5%)
• Bank transfer (3%)

Alternatively, The Global Payment Report by FIS also listed the most used payment methods for online sales in Peru 2022:

• Credit cards (32%)
• Debit cards (20%)
• Account-account (17%)
• Digital wallet (11%)
• Cash on delivery (10%)
• PostPay (9%)
• Other (1%)

According to PCMI’s E-commerce Data Library, the most common payment methods used for e-commerce shopping in Peru 2022 were:

1. Debit cards (41%)
2. Internationally enabled credit card (20%)
3. Cash vouchers (19%)
4. Wallets (13%)
5. Others* (3%)
6. Domestic-only credit card (2%)
7. Bank transfers (2%)

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

Main Devices Used for E-Commerce Purchases in Peru

CAPECE data in its 2022 e-commerce report indicate that 71% of Peruvians used mobile phones for online shopping, 27.5% used laptops and 1.1% used tablets.

PCMI uses a methodology based on transactional data to determine the devices used to make online purchases in Peru.

• In 2022, 59% of online purchases in Peru were made through a mobile device
• In 2022, 41% of online purchases in Peru were made through a desktop

According to PCMI’s projections, in 2023 those percentages will go as follow:

• In 2023, 64% of online purchases in Peru will be made with a mobile device
• In 2023, 36% of online sales in Peru will be made with a desktop

Factors Limiting E-Commerce Growth in Peru

CAPECE highlights the following factors as challenging for e-commerce development in Peru, according to an analysis of problems and consultations made to Indecopi, a regulatory entity:

Problems when choosing a product and hitting the buy button

In the online customer journey in Peru, these problems previously to purchase represents 7 % of Indecopi records.

• 46% of problems reported during this stage of the online shopping journey were related to platforms’ inability to process a purchase, and 43% were related to misleading advertising.

• Fraud is a limiting factor. “During the CYBER event in July 2021 there were 302,744 offers published by stores, but only 22% of them were real.”

Problems with delivery and logistics

Logistics is CRITICAL, as 50% of Indecopi records were related to this stage of the online consumer journey in Peru. Of those:

• 45% were related to products that never reached their destination
• 31% were related to the cancellation of a purchase

Attention to claims and other requests

In the Peruvian online consumer journey, these post-purchase problems represent 39% of the complaints to Indecopi.

• Indecopi records show that 46% of claims were related to purchases that were not reimbursed
• 28% of problems were related to products that came in bad conditions

Going Further

#1 PCMI’s E-Commerce Data Library contains extensive data on Peru. Click here to find out how to order a copy.

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

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

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