The trend: Retail ecommerce sales in Latin America were slower than anticipated during the first nine months (9M) of 2022 as macroeconomic headwinds began to take their toll on some—but not all—companies’ digital businesses.

The stat: In 9M 2022, five of the 12 Latin America companies included in our analysis saw their retail ecommerce sales decline year-over-year (YoY) due to rising inflation, decreases in real wage growth, and a high basis of comparison in the prior year.

• The 9M 2022 growth rate was nearly four times less than that of 2021.
• Double-digit YoY declines in online sales from Via, Ripley, and Cencosud stymied sales growth, while Falabella and Dafiti reported sales declines of 5.0% and 2.4% YoY, respectively.

On the other hand: Mercado Libre’s nearly 22% YoY increase in digital sales helped offset those players’ losses by infusing $4.44 billion into the regional market during the nine-month period.

• Only four other retailers posted double-digit YoY gains in 9M: Carrefour Brasil (98.3%), Walmart de México y Centroamérica (20.5%), Grupo Éxito Colombia (19.5%), and Liverpool (14.3%).
• Carrefour was the only company to nearly double the size of its ecommerce business in Brazil, rising from $408.3 million (BRL 2.20 billion) in 9M 2021 to $809.8 million (BRL 4.37 billion) in 9M 2022.

Looking ahead: Positive growth will carry over into next year. We forecast retail ecommerce sales in Latin America to reach nearly $200 billion in 2023, up 15.4% YoY. That will make it the second-fastest-growing retail ecommerce market worldwide after Southeast Asia (18.1%).

Go further: For much more on retail ecommerce in Latin America in 2022 and what to expect next year—including the influence of particular countries as well as in-store retail sales on ecommerce—see our Latin America Retail Ecommerce Players Q2 2022 Review and 2023 Outlook.