Chile may be the fifth biggest market of Latin America, but it shines in a coveted metric: the country has the highest sales volume per capita in the whole region, being an outstanding example of the potential of Latam's smallest populations.
With 10 million e-shoppers, Chile has a high e-commerce penetration rate, 65% – only behind Latin America’s giants, Brazil and Mexico. The country’s market shows a 19% year over year growth, and should rise from $ 19 billion in total sales in 2022 to $ 32 bi by 2025.
To help you better navigate them and tailor your strategies to reach the best possible successes in the Brazilian market, we’ve prepared this article, with exclusive data from our Digital Renaissance in Latin America white paper. Enjoy your reading!
Chile’s rising potential for e-commerce sales
With a $ 812 in annual online purchases per capita — the highest in Latin America, as we’ve stated above —, Chile represents 6% of all e-commerce in Latin America, with still plenty of room and a lot of potential for even more growth.
Another fact that showcases how interesting the Chilean market can be for merchants is that the country has the highest GDP in Latin America, and an e-commerce market that’s expected to reach $ 32 billion by 2025. Besides, Chile also has an expressive penetration of cross-border sales: they were 22% of all e-commerce in 2022, expected to rise to 26% by 2025.
Used to buying online and with the purchasing power to select the products they want from merchants from anywhere in the world, Chilean consumers are certainly an audience global companies should invest in reaching.
Innovation in shopping and in payments
Besides a rising e-commerce sales volume, Chile is also undergoing a steady growth of online payments, which highlights the importance of local payment methods to unlock the country’s market. Online payment transfers represented 10% of e-commerce in 2022, but are growing at a 55% rate per year, reaching 21% by 2025.
Aligned with Chile’s high GDP and online sales volume per capita, the country is also one of the highest-banked markets in Latin America: 82% of Chileans own a bank account and debit card. This is, among other factors, a result of state-owned BancoEstado’s Tarjeta RUT, that makes a debit card and account available to any Chilean with a national identification number.
Consequently, Chile has a huge share of credit and debit card payments for e-commerce purchases (78%). Nearly all credit and debit cards issued in the country are internationally enabled – which, considering the high percentage of cross-border purchases and the fact that nearly, makes Chile an even more important market for foreign merchants.
With a stable, rising economy, high purchasing power, and a payments landscape that becomes more innovative each day, Chile is a great market for cross-border merchants to explore and make the most of the country’s potential.
As we’ve shown here, local payment methods play a large role in that – both in terms of offering the methods of each country and the payment habits of the local consumers.
The data presented here comes from our exclusive white paper, Digital Renaissance in Latin America – which also features information and insights about the other five countries that make up the Top 6 Markets of Latin America. Click below to download it and check it out:
