The Electronic Commerce Market in Central America reached $ USD 3.7 billion during 2020

The sales that were generated through transactions in electronic commerce in Central American reached US $3.7 billion last year.  This is a figure that represents an increase of 40% in relation to the calendar year 2019. The website América Retail based this information on data provided by the Statista eCommerce 2020: Trends and Outlook.

According to this digital source, “although Guatemala and Costa Rica were expected to be among the top 15 Latin American countries in terms of e-commerce revenues in 2020, Panama was the economy whose online segment accounted for the highest proportion of total retail sales.”

“Of all retail sales in Panama, the eCommerce channel accounted for about 8%.  This figure surpassed even the Brazilian market, where eCommerce represented about 7.8% of the total. The Caribbean market represented around US $1.2 billion in sales.  The vast majority of this total had its source the Dominican Republic with close to 900 million dollars,” according to América Retail.

Noel Pinat, Director of SAP Solutions for the North region of Latin America and the Caribbean, specified that the present increase in electronic commerce in Central America is due to several reasons.  The most prominent among them being the closures to which global economies have been subjected due to the health emergency of COVID-12.  It is important to remember that eCommerce proliferation is a global trend that was already becoming irreversible long before the pandemic.   This trend has been due to the increasing popularity of social networks, the use of smartphones, and the transacting of electronic payments.

“In 2020, the demand to know and evaluate digital commerce solutions increased exponentially. Even companies that ruled out or postponed the decision to move towards electronic commerce in Central America or omnichannel sales model before 2020 asked again and urgently requested information, demos, and proposals for digital commerce platforms,” said the SAP executive.

Electronic commerce in Central America will continue to grow at a healthy pace

America Retail’s predictions anticipate that with approximately 70 million residents and more than 60 percent of the population using the internet, Central America and the Caribbean will undoubtedly have the potential to generate a large number of online consumers.

“Growth is expected to continue in more mature markets such as Panama, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic where the most significant categories represented are fashion, electronics, toys, furniture, food, and personal care will continue to rebound,” states that organization.  Sustained growth in electronic commerce in Central America is also forecast for countries such as El Salvador and Guatemala.

The SAP executive indicated that in most countries, the key to consolidating eCommerce is based on effectively and efficiently connecting the front office to the back office.

“A memorable shopping experience not only means that the site or app from where the consumer buys looks beautiful and is fast and easy to use, but also that the promise of each brand regarding price, availability, and delivery times is fulfilled. To achieve the desired results, it is critically important to be able to connect the experiences in the front office with the back office’s billing and logistics support processes,” added Pinat.

SAP records establish that during the first 26 weeks of 2020 versus the same period of 2019, the volume of online purchases from customers who used the SAP Commerce Cloud tool rose 69.3%, with a significant portion of this increase coming from electronic commerce in Central America.