Internet Penetration
Argentina has high levels of internet penetration in in relation to other Latin American regions in the research. At 66%, the region is close to Canada and the United States in terms of population percentage shopping online. Consistent with more mature internet shopping markets, the percentage of disposable income spent online is lower than average, 21% in Argentina against 23% globally.
Marketplaces
MercadoLibre remains the dominant online marketplace in Latin America. Founded in 1999, the company now operates its marketplaces in 12 countries across the region. In 2013, over 40% of marketplace revenues came from Brazil (where the company is known as MercadoLivre) and almost 25% were from Argentina; in addition, Venezuela and Mexico are key markets for the company.
eCommerce
The number of people with Internet access continued to grow in 2014, from 130,000 connections in 2001 to 12 million. Network expansion allowed people to connect from multiple locations via WiFi connections in both private and public spaces such as: cafes, restaurants, parks, hotels, etc. But in 2014 the most important increase in connections was through mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) that grew 200% from 2013 to 2014. Over 32 million people (over half the Argentine population) were Internet users in 2014. E-commerce activity has grown tenfold since 2000 in peso terms.
The Argentine Government called public tenders to lay 13,500 km (8,388 mi.) of cable in 2014 as part of the country’s federal fiber network project “Argentina Conectada”. This will add to the already-installed 8,000 km (4,971 mi.) of fiber. Once the national fiber platform is fully deployed by the end of 2015, more than 1,400 cities and localities across Argentina will have connectivity. To date, the GOA has invested more than $484 million.
While sales via Internet have not traditionally reached the same levels as in other countries, a study conducted by the Argentine Chamber of Electronic Commerce (CACE) showed a sustained increase from 10 percent of internet users in 2001 to almost 62 percent in 2014. Online purchases using credit cards represented 70 percent of total online transactions, up from 49 percent in 2014. This may be due to the boom experienced by discount coupon sales and a growing confidence in electronic payment sites. Online sales have also a high rate of acceptance in the interior of the country, where the variety of products available is more limited and delivery is an increasingly important sales tool. According to CACE, the estimated growth of electronic commerce transactions for 2015 will be 58 percent.