According to a study by eMarketer/Insider Intelligence, e-commerce is the main source of product demand for consumers in the region
Traditional search channels have lost ground in the competition for the preference of consumers who research products to buy online. According to a study by eMarketer/Insider Intelligence, retail websites are today the main source of product research among Latin Americans, even ahead of social networks.
When searching for a product to buy online, 13.4% more consumers in Latin America turn to retail websites instead of using traditional search channels, according to the Research Behavior on Consumer Products in Latin America 2023 survey. They are also increasingly being influenced by advertisements shown to them during the research phase of the purchasing journey.
It is predicted that, by 2023, more than half of Latin Americans over the age of 14 will make at least one purchase online. This represents around a third more than the number of people who purchased online in 2019, in the pre-pandemic period. The rapid adoption of e-commerce has caused profound changes in the purchasing behavior of consumers in the region, especially in terms of where and how they research the products they want to buy online. The most visible change is the increased use of retail websites for these searches.
This change is likely to accelerate in the future, as consumers search for the best prices, promotions and offers on retail platforms, especially on digital marketplaces, which also function as an alternative for making product and price comparisons. Social media has seen significant growth for product research. It is not the most popular form of search (it is in second place, behind retail websites), but it was the one that recorded the biggest growth (4.3 percentage points) in terms of use for this type of search.
The rapid adoption of e-commerce caused profound changes in the purchasing behavior of consumers in the region, especially in terms of
refers to where and how they research the products they want to buy online, said Matteo Ceurvels, lead analyst for Latin America and Spain. The most visible change is the increased use of retail websites for these searches, he adds.
Video has been identified as one of the most important tools for gaining consumer engagement, due to the format’s high penetration in Latin America. But research shows that most people still prefer to see information in writing. In fact, results in text format are preferred: 4 in 10 Latin American consumers prefer to read about the products they are researching and 3 in 10 prefer to watch a video. This is also the proportion among Brazilian consumers.
Additionally, online shoppers are taking a more refined approach to product research, combining branded and generic search terms. More than half of those surveyed use a combination of the two, with preferences varying by age and gender.
Insider Intelligence is the result of the merger between the digital research and analysis company eMarketer and Business Insider Intelligence, specialized in the dissemination of business information. Its focus is on identifying opportunities that present themselves in the digital world.
(Credit: Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash)
