Unlocking e-Commerce growth across global markets

By Edlyn Cardoza

dLocal, a technology-first payments platform that enables global enterprise merchants to connect with billions of consumers in emerging markets, in partnership with Americas Market Intelligence (AMI), recently released an exclusive industry report to fix the lack of trustworthy data about eCommerce in core and high-potential emerging markets.

The countries covered are Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa in Africa; India in Asia; Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay in Latin America; and Turkey in the Middle East. Here are some of the report highlights:

• In 2020, the 14 core emerging markets added up to US$350 billion in processed payments
• The total pay-outs made from merchants to individuals in 2020 was equivalent to US$812 billion
• Local payment methods represent 83% of total eCommerce expenditure in the 14 core markets
• Although the global economy contracted by 3.5% in 2020, eCommerce growth remained positive, averaging 27% YoY among the 14 core markets
• Cross-border retail spending is growing thanks to international marketplaces seeking new locations to do business
• International leisure travel will begin to rebound in 2022, possibly reaching pre-pandemic levels by 2024

“When a merchant, business leader, journalist, or market analyst, wants to find data about the state of eCommerce in developed nations, a quick Google search is all it takes. However, with emerging markets, the scenario is far different. Information is usually disorganized and unreliable, and those countries are very diverse,” says Mathieu Limousi, VP of Marketing and Communications at dLocal. “That is why in this report, dLocal provides a clear, concise, and consistent account of eCommerce in such strategic regions.”

Some of the key stats include eCommerce market size, predictions, industry breakdown, and payment behavior. “To give an idea of the plurality of different local payment methods, our One dLocal concept – one API, one platform, one contract – enables merchants to accept 600 payment methods across 30 markets in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. It is important to partner with companies and organizations with extensive local expertise,” says Limousi.