Brazil: most-visited online retailers 2019

In March 2019, the websites of B2W Companhia Digital –such as Americanas.com, Shoptime, and Submarino– collectively had 78.7 million unique visitors. Mercado Libre –known in Brazil by its name in Portuguese, Mercado Livre– followed with 69.6 million unique visitors. However, between 2019 and 2020, the number of unique active users of Mercado Libre in Latin America altogether increased by nearly 80 percent.

The clash of the South American titans

Although B2W and Mercado Libre compete for the preference of the Brazilian digital consumer, it could be said that their respective brands complemented each other. Buenos Aires-based Mercado Libre, which generates more than half of its revenue in Brazil, is widely known as an online marketplace. Meanwhile, Rio de Janeiro-based B2W evokes the reputation of traditional retailers like Lojas Americanas, founded in 1929. Yet B2W’s number of third-party sellers increased by over 85 percent between 2019 and 2020, indicating that Mercado Libre’s business model continues to trend up.

Magalu’s leap of faith

Magazine Luiza –often referred to as Magalu– has also been trying to expand its e-commerce operation by boosting third-party sales. In 2020, third-party sales accounted for more than one-fourth of MagaLu’s online sales revenue, up from just 0.16 percent four years before. Founded in 1957, this retailer is quickly turning into an e-tailer. Throughout 2020 –a period marked by the COVID-19 outbreak– nearly two-thirds of the company’s sales revenue came from digital sales, up from less than 25 percent in 2016.