E-commerce is proving to be a good alternative for investors who have decided to starting a business in brazil as a foreigner. The sector has perspective of growth in 2023, which is already evaluated by entrepreneurs who have the intention of making exploring the business opportunities in Brazil.
The sector’s expectation of growth goes in the opposite direction of what is expected from the global economy. After all, Latin American countries are still trying to recover from the crisis caused by the pandemic, which originated from higher interest rates and lower global liquidity.
For 2023, a strong trend points to the presence of international e-commerce players. The Asians Shopee and AliExpress join the list of e-commerces that matter most to Latin America.
Presence of Asian companies in Brazilian e-commerce
According to a survey of the global payments platform Nuvei, Asian companies will represent, by 2026, 28% of imports to Latin America through online retail. In 2022, the representation reached the level of 16%, comparatively.
According to the Nuvei report, Latin America is an important and promising market for international investors and traders. In fact, countries like Brazil and Mexico are relevant to investors due to cultural standards, consumer behavior, geographic size and dynamism.
Trend: Sales growth through smartphones
The current moment in e-commerce also indicates the increase in sales made through smartphones. Likewise, payments through digital portfolios (PicPay, for example) and through the PIX system continue to be a strong trend.
The PIX instant payment system reached a record 104 million transactions carried out in 24 hours in December 20, according to the Central Bank.
Launched in November 2020, PIX has 143 million registered users, of which 132 million are physical entities and 11.7 million are legal entities.
Online shopping projections in 2023
The research firm Statista emphasizes that the number of online shoppers should increase by more than 20% by 2025 in Brazil. The numbers are compared to the current estimated 371 million shoppers. The growth is driven by two factors:
- The highest purchase volume by the youth population with digital experience;
- The rapid expansion of the Internet and of smartphones.
On the other hand, the lesser participation of physical entities in the formal and traditional banking system caused a good opportunity. Above all, because it made Brazil an interesting region for investments in electronic payment services and digital banks.
It is worth remembering that these services provide practicality, less bureaucracy and facilities for the consumer (fee exemption, for example).
Also according to Statista, sales through e-commerce should reach US$ 160 billion by 2025, a result higher than the US$ 85 billion added in 2021. In addition, Brazil and Mexico must compete to occupy the first place in the ranking of countries that purchase the most online.
Estimations of Brazilian associations on e-commerce
ABcomm – Brazilian Electronic Commerce Association calculates that online sales will reach a total of BRL 186 billion by 2023. Thus, the results exceed the estimated BRL 170 billion for 2022. ABcomm’s projections indicate that Brazil will have around 87.8 million frequent online shoppers, almost 5 million more than in 2022.
According to the survey by FecomercioSP, in the state of São Paulo alone, e-commerce should have a revenue of BRL 66.7 billion this year.
E-commerce market generates investment opportunities in Brazil
The purchasing behavior of the digital consumer reflects the numbers of the growth of e-commerce startups in Brazil. From 2021 to now, online retail has grown by 17.85% in terms of business volume. There are more startups investing in the sector and profiting from it.
The survey “The evolution of startups in the retail sector (evolução das startups no setor de varejo)”, organized by Liga Ventures and PwC Brasil, shows the scenario of the recently created companies in the segment:
- 15% of online retail startups were created in 2017;
- 11% had their origin in 2018;
- 8% of e-commerce companies started their operations in 2019;
- 5% in 2020, 3% in 2021 and 1% in 2022.
How to open a company in Brazil in the e-commerce segment?
Opening a company in Brazil requires legal and tax knowledge, which directly impact on the success of the business. Therefore, even if opening an online store seems to be something that depends only on technology, learn that online operations also require management, inspection and control.
After all, all physical or online companies that operate in Brazil, report to the Federal Internal Revenue Service about their revenue. In addition, they are taxed, paying the due taxes.
Therefore, it is essential to have the support of a company like Europartner, which has a team of trained qualified specialists to guide you through the entire company constitution process and all the accounting standards in brazil.
