Brazilian e-commerce saw revenues of BRL 9.4 million ($1.6 million) last April, an increase of 81% over the same period last year, according to Compre&Confie. The growth is strongly related to the measures of social distancing adopted to prevent the coronavirus spread that continue to negatively impact offline retail. To counterbalance losses, companies accelerated their digital transformation and started selling online.
The spike happened in orders placed in April: there were 24.5 million online purchases, an increase of 98% over April 2019. According to the survey, the sectors that had the highest growth in volume of purchases compared to the same month last year were:
- Food and Beverages +294.8%
- Musical Instruments +252.4%
- Toys +241.6%
- Electronics +169.5%
- Tableware and Bath products +165.9%
Even with the increase in sales, the average ticket decreased compared to the same month of the previous year, meaning that although people are buying more in e-commerce, they are spending on cheaper products.
The e-commerce forecast for May is a record due to Mother’s Day. Compre&Confie says purchases are expected to reach BRL 5.9 billion, an increase of 123% over the same month last year.
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The estimate considers the period from April 25 to May 9 and projects that, in this interval, 15.5 million purchases will be made online, a number 139% higher than that registered in the same period of 2019.
Despite buying in greater quantity, Brazilians may also spend less on each transaction in this forecast. The company expects a 7% drop in the average ticket for purchases, to BRL 380.23.
