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 – ranked second with 69.6 million unique visitors. In terms of Net Promoter Score (NPS), however, Mercado Libre ranked above B2W’s websites.

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 complement each other. Buenos Aires-based Mercado Libre, which generates nearly two thirds 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 that of its controlling holding, Lojas Americanas, founded in 1929. Yet B2W’s number of third-party sellers has more than doubled recently, indicating that Mercado Libre’s business model continues to trend up.

Luiza’s leap of faith

Magazine Luiza – which ranked fourth with 31 million unique visitors in March 2019 – has also been trying to balance its e-commerce operation between first and third-party sales. In 2019, third-party sales represented almost one fourth of Magazine Luiza’s online sales revenue, up from just 0.15 percent three years before. Founded in 1957, this retailer is quickly turning into an e-tailer. In the first quarter of 2020 – partially under the influence of the COVID-19 outbreak – more than half of the company’s sales revenue came from digital sales, up from less than one fourth in 2016.