A study by the Brazilian Electronic Commerce Association (ABCOMM) and Konduto, which analyzed more than 20 million orders for physical products placed between March 1st and April 8th, in 4 thousand online stores, shows not only an increase in online sales in the country, but it also demonstrates that this increase is not restricted to the segments leveraged by the COVID-19 pandemic.
From the first half of March, when self-isolation began to gain strength in the country, to the second half, when cities and states announced official pro-social distance recommendations, online sales fell 19.24%. At the end of the month, and in the first week of April, however, this behavior was reversed, and sales grew 28.8%.
The study, which will be updated every two weeks, lists 16 different categories of physical products (services such as travel and delivery apps are not part of the analysis): sporting goods, auto parts, bazaar / imported, drinks, jewelry/accessories, toys and games, footwear, cosmetics, appliances, electronics, pharmacy, bookstore, fashion, furniture and homewares, eyewear and supermarkets (groceries).
Of all these categories, only one, toys and games, had a retraction (-37.54%) in the last analyzed period. This same category, however, had already grown strongly in the second half of March (434.70%), at the beginning of the confinement.
Appliances, cosmetics, and fashion were the categories with the highest growth in sales in the last analyzed period, with an increase in the number of orders made per day of 96.66%, 88.02%, and 62.73%, respectively.
Sales of pharmacy products and groceries, as expected, also showed significant growth right at the beginning of the isolation measures in Brazil, but slowed down in the second analyzed period.
In the case of pharmaceutical products, the growth was 41.56% in the first half, and 2.63% in the second. When it comes to groceries, the increase in online sales was 270.16% in the first period, and 1.37% in the second.
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As LABS showed in March, the expectation of specialists when it comes to e-commerce in Latin America is that more consumers are starting to buy online due to the pandemic and that even when the contagion waves of the new coronavirus pass part of that behavior will remain.
“We can expect a boost in everything digital right now. Some of this consumer behavior being introduced right now will stick and cause sustained growth through this year and the next year,” said Lindsay Lehr, Americas Market Intelligence (AMI)’s expert on payments, who has been following the evolution of e-commerce in Latin America since 2015.
“Some categories have not yet managed to resume the pace of sales from before the pandemic, but other segments, such as pharmacies and supermarkets, are taking on a new role in Brazilian electronic commerce. The expectation, at least for the next weeks with the extension of the quarantine and the closing of physical commerce, is that online sales will maintain this growth curve, ” said Tom Canabarro, CEO and co-founder of Konduto, in a text published on the company’s website.
A forthcoming study by ABCOMM and Konduto will include service sales data, divided into the following categories: delivery applications; online courses; online games; accommodation; tickets; airline tickets; road tickets; and restaurants.
