For brands considering expanding internationally, marketplaces in Mexico can be a great option. For one thing, Mexico’s total ecommerce revenue is expected to grow 33% this year, to $50.66 billion USD. This outpaces the expected 22% growth rate of U.S. ecommerce revenue in 2023.
Mexico’s ecommerce industry continues to grow with Mexico’s ecommerce segment being largely driven by millennials making purchases on their phones. What most brand’s might not know is that Mexico’s most prolific internet shoppers in Mexico are aged between 25-40, and the most popular device to shop on within that segment is mobile devices.
Learn more about why expanding your brand to marketplaces in Mexico like Mercado Libre and Amazon Mexico just might be the next best move for your business.
Mercado Libre Captures a Huge Portion of Market Share in Mexico
Mercado Libre is the largest ecommerce platform in Latin America, with its model being most similar to eBay. Mercado Libre’s lead in the market is due in large part to the incredible success of their fin-tech arm, Mercado Pago. Mercado Pago, Mercado Libre’s payment system, is a mobile wallet that allows Mexico’s unbanked shoppers—nearly 1/3 of the population—to shop online.
One thing brands should know about selling their products on Mercado Libre is that the reputation of the seller is the single-most determining factor for success on the marketplace. So, building a solid reputation for your brand is crucial. A great reputation will bring higher sales velocity, better customer reviews, a higher seller ranking, and the chance to be a platinum seller on Mercado Libre.
Mercado Libre MX and Amazon MX lead the pack by far in market share. However, when looking at average monthly visits, Mercado Libre has a slight lead over Amazon:
Easy Transition for US Brands to Sell on Amazon Mexico
Just behind Mercado Libre in number of monthly website visits, Amazon Mexico is a great option for brands who are wanting to expand their international presence and already selling on Amazon US, but aren’t quite sure about diving into an entirely new platform.
Amazon Mexico’s platform is nearly identical to Amazon US, already having many built-in tools to help brands be successful. If brands have a unified North American seller account, you can easily transfer listings, including automated translation, currency conversion, and automated pricing updates to account for additional costs for selling internationally.
Difficulties for Brands Expanding to Mexico
Expanding internationally isn’t an easy process. Differing regulations and logistics can be a pain to navigate, especially without the right resources.
Differing Regulations
For products sold in Mexico, labeling must be provided in Spanish. In addition to translation, some products may require more or less labeling than is required in the US. For example, for all textile products like clothes, sheets, towels, etc. sold in Mexico, the label has to be permanently affixed to the product, meaning it must be a sewn-on tag. Knowing all of these varying regulations takes time and resources that many brands’ teams simply don’t have the bandwidth for.
Logistics
The logistics of selling on marketplaces in Mexico can be overwhelming to brands who are unfamiliar with the market. Answering questions such as who to partner with to ship your products to Mexico, who to use as a customs broker and importer, and where to warehouse your products are just a few of the things brands need to consider.
Successfully Expand Your Brand to Mexico With Pattern
The difficulties of expanding to Mexico can be easily overcome with the right expertise and resources. As an international ecommerce accelerator, Pattern has successfully helped hundreds of brands expand to unfamiliar international marketplaces such as Mercado Libre and Amazon Mexico.
Going global can be intimidating, costly, and overwhelming, but with Pattern as your 3P trade partner, you’ll have the experience, resources, and data to successfully expand your business internationally. Our global expertise and footprint makes international growth on marketplaces much easier for brands looking to expand.
Want to learn more about taking your brand on marketplaces in Mexico? Contact us.
