South America's Top Online Marketplaces

Online marketplaces play an increasingly important role in global eCommerce. In 2020, online marketplaces were responsible for 63% of digital spending globally, up from 57% in 2019, according to Digital Commerce 360. China’s Taobao and Tmall are head-to-head in the race for the world’s biggest marketplace and both lead by quite a margin over other competitors in the international comparison of online players in the third-party eCommerce business in terms of total GMV in 2020. The only non-Asian online marketplace which plays in the same league GMV-wise is Amazon, the U.S. tech giant. Together, these current top 3 online marketplaces with the highest GMV in the world generated over US$1.6 trillion in 2020. In comparison to this enormous figure, other competitors in the field of online marketplaces seem like dwarfs. There are many regions in the world, however, where online marketplaces are still a vibrant business. South America, for example, has a diverse online marketplace landscape with many competitors in the game reaching remarkable GMV amounts and growth figures. The Argentinian player MercadoLibre, for example, is currently in rank 7 in the comparison of the biggest online marketplaces by GMV in the Americas1, even though it is only active in Latin America. Like most other marketplaces from the Southern half of the American continent, it registers remarkable GMV growth:

By total GMV, MercadoLibre is the biggest online marketplace headquartered in South America. In 2020, it generated a GMV of US$19.7 billion. This corresponds to a remarkable GMV growth of 50% compared to 2019. Although MercadoLibre is the biggest South American marketplace, it is beaten by others in terms of growth. Casas Bahia, which is the smallest marketplace by GMV in this comparison, grew by a tremendous 128% between 2019 and 2020, reaching a GMV total of US$2.0 billion. Casas Bahia is from Brazil and only active in its home country. Magalu, another Brazilian competitor, reaches the second-highest growth in this comparison, increasing GMV by 82% year-on-year to US$4 billion in 2020. Americanas grew slowest. The Brazilian online marketplace increased its GMV by “only” 14% between 2019 and 2020, reaching a total of US$3.8 billion. For 2021, ecommerceDB forecasts more solid growth for all four players, Americanas is even projected to increase its growth rate in the current year. South America is a rather small eCommerce region in terms of total revenue. According to the Statista Digital Market Outlook, US$45 billion were generated in eCommerce in South America in 2020 (North America, for example, produced US$588 billion!). With this in mind, the GMV figures of South America’s online marketplaces do not look so small anymore, not even compared to international giants.

You need more details on the world of online marketplaces? Check out the brand-new online marketplace section on ecommerceDB.com and find comprehensive rankings on a global or regional basis with the possibility to group by product categories. The section also includes in-depth data on the single marketplaces, including GMV developments, regional scope and more.

1: Ranking of total GMV of marketplaces which are active in the Americas. Total GMV of international players in the comparison thus also include GMV produced in other regions.