What's driving ecommerce growth in Argentina?
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Argentina’s retail ecommerce industry proved resilient amid years of double-digit inflation and turbulent market activity. 2022 will present retailers with a host of challenges as soaring consumer prices, high unemployment, and a plummeting currency weigh heavily on shoppers’ minds—and wallets.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Several factors make Argentina an attractive market for online sellers.
Argentina’s retail ecommerce penetration rivals that of more economically advanced countries. This year, ecommerce sales will account for 12.0% of total retail sales in the country. That will put Argentina slightly ahead of France (11.9%), as well as Germany and Australia (both 11.1%).
Consumers’ love of ecommerce shows no signs of waning. Nearly 1 million people ages 14 and older will make a digital purchase for the first time in 2022. This year, 21.5 million digital buyers in Argentina—or roughly 60% of the country’s population in that age range—will make at least one online purchase.
Argentina will outpace both Brazil and Mexico in a key metric—digital buyer penetration. That means larger percentages of internet users and the total population will make an online purchase in Argentina this year than in either of those countries.
Product categories driving ecommerce sales growth
Three categories, in particular, will drive ecommerce sales growth: food and beverage, furniture and home furnishings, and auto and parts.
Computer and consumer electronics is the most popular ecommerce category by sales. This year, it will account for nearly ARS 400 billion (more than $3 billion)—or more than one-fifth of Argentina’s retail ecommerce market. It has held the No. 1 spot since at least 2018 and will do so through 2026.
Four additional categories will have at least ARS 200.00 billion ($1.68 billion) in retail ecommerce sales this year: apparel and accessories, food and beverage, furniture and home furnishings, and auto and parts.
The food and beverage category, in particular, will see noteworthy gains.
Online sales of food and beverage will triple between 2020 and 2022. As a result, the category will surpass furniture and home furnishings in ecommerce sales for the first time this year.
In 2024, food and beverage will overtake apparel and accessories to become the country’s second-largest category by ecommerce sales volume.
Food and beverage will remain in the No. 2 spot from 2024 to 2026. During that period, apparel and accessories will hold fast at third, followed by furniture and home furnishings.