E-commerce grows 30% in 2009
Folha de S. Paulo
Shopping made over the Internet last year amounted to R$ 10.6 billion (US$ 5.4 billion), a 30% increase compared to 2008, according to an e-commerce survey made by the e-bit consulting firm, which does not consider the sales of vehicles, airline tickets and virtual auctions. Nearly 17.6 million Brazilian consumers had already made at least one purchase over the Internet at the end of 2009, according to the survey, with a growth of 33%. The figure represents 26% of Brazil's Internet users, which means, according to the consulting firm, that there is still a lot of room to grow. From that total, 4.4 million had the experience of doing some virtual shopping for the first time last year, 60% of which have household income of up to R$ 3,000.00 (US$ 1,522.80).
Among the reasons for the increase in the earnings is the entry of Casas Bahia in the virtual world, in February 2009. With the arrival French retailer Carrefour to e-commerce this month, all major chains present in the country now offer shopping option through the virtual world. "Companies that already have a strong brand in retail can attract new consumers to the channel", says e-bit's Managing Officer Pedro Guasti. He added that it is also important for the sector, since the arrival of large players represents more investments in media, platforms, and logistics.
Books, magazines and newspapers lead the virtual sales, with 20% of the volume of orders in 2009, followed by health, beauty and medicines (13%). With the reduction of the IPI (Excise Tax) for the white line, home appliances assured the third position in the ranking (11%), almost doubling its participation compared to the previous year, ahead of IT (9%) and electronics (6%). For 2010, the forecast is to sell R$ 13.6 billion (US$ 7.6 billion), repeating last year's pace of growth. At the end of the first six months of the year, the projection of e-bit is that 19.8 million people should purchase at least one product through the Internet and, for December, the forecast is that the figure should get to 23 million. Eugênio Foganholo, the retail specialized consultant of the Mixxer company, stresses out that, even though the participation of the virtual sales the in the total earnings of the large chains is still small, Internet is increasingly used in the pre-purchase. "That is where the consumer gathers information, makes comparisons".