Online sales as share of total retail in Brazil 2019-2024
In 2024, online sales accounted for nine percent of all retail sales in Brazil. This represents an increase of almost 3 percentage points compared to 2019. Even though e-commerce had gained ground in the Brazilian retail market before 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend.
Market expansion and job creation
The Brazilian retail e-commerce market is projected to generate over 40 billion U.S. dollars in revenue in 2025, with forecasts suggesting it could surpass 60 billion U.S. dollars by 2027. This growth is reflected in the number of online stores, which has almost doubled from 350,000 in 2019 to over 610,000 in 2023. The e-commerce boom has also created substantial employment opportunities, with the digital market forecast to create over 960 thousand jobs in 2024.
Key players and market dynamics
MercadoLibre, known locally as Mercado Livre, saw its gross merchandise volume (GMV) grow by 34 percent in the third quarter of 2024. The online marketplace has experienced double-digits growth of its quarterly GMV for more than six years. Meanwhile, Magazine Luiza, a prominent Brazilian retailer, experienced a sales growth on their marketplace of 16.8 percent in 2023 and a 5.1 percent increase in total e-commerce sales. Even when these growth rates of Magalu are lower than the ones in 2020, the online sector of the company keeps expanding.
