F. Watty
Research Expert E-commerce
E-commerce in Chile - statistics & facts
Chile's e-commerce market has shown extraordinary growth over the past years. Chile ranked fourth in Latin America for e-commerce market share, with estimated business-to-consumer (B2C) online sales of around 11.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, more than five times that of one decade ago. E-commerce is expected to remain an integral part of the shopping experience for Chileans, with an e-commerce penetration rate forecast to surpass 67 percent by 2029.
The Chilean e-commerce market is expected to continue attracting new buyers, with domestic and foreign stores competing for the preferences of Chilean shoppers. Sales events can play a crucial role to attract customers and increase revenue in the sector.
Popular e-commerce categories
Out of all the different product categories that Chileans buy online, clothing was the most popular, with almost half of survey respondents buying apparel items in the twelve months prior to a survey in 2024. Shoes followed as the second favorite category in Chile, showing the importance of e-commerce in the fashion sector. There were clear gender differences in preferred e-commerce categories in Chile in 2024. Women lead the online purchases on stationery and hobby supplies and cosmetics and body care, with more than 60 percent of the total online sales. On the other hand, men showed a greater preference for consumer electronics and household appliances, making most of the digital purchases in these product categories.Online stores
The Chilean e-commerce landscape is full of competitors feuding to win the preferences of the Chilean consumers. Mercado Libre, Latin America's leading online marketplace, had 14 million registered users in the country, and an average of 100 million monthly platform visits in the first half of 2024. The Chilean company Grupo Falabella, founded more than one hundred years ago, had an estimated gross merchandise volume of over 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, and is on track to surpass that figure in 2024. On top of these two big players in the Chilean online market, cross-border e-commerce transactions also play a significant role in the South American country. AliExpress leads on these transactions with around 30 percent of the total, followed by Amazon who amass less than half of that share.The Chilean e-commerce market is expected to continue attracting new buyers, with domestic and foreign stores competing for the preferences of Chilean shoppers. Sales events can play a crucial role to attract customers and increase revenue in the sector.
