The Next Frontier – PayU’s global e-commerce report

• The report uses data from PayU’s payment platforms and external sources and covers the Beauty & Cosmetics, Digital Goods, Fashion & Gallantry and Education sectors in 16 countries across five continents.
• Across all sectors, Latin America showed consistent growth and offers the most potential for future growth for emerging e-commerce leaders entering new markets.

Amsterdam, Netherlands – XX March 2021: PayU, the fintech and e-payments business of Prosus, today launches a report titled “The Next Frontier: the most promising markets for emerging e-commerce leaders in 2021 and beyond”, revealing Latin America (LatAm) has the most promising and consistent growth trends and is set to become the new global e-commerce destination for Emerging E-commerce Leaders (EELs); fast growing online and omnichannel businesses looking to stand out in their sector.

The report analyses data on four consumer goods sectors from both external sources and PayU’s own platforms, via its network of hundreds of thousands of online merchants, in 16 high growth markets spanning five continents.

The Next Frontier: Latin America, the new e-commerce powerhouse

Across all four sectors analysed; Beauty & Cosmetics, Digital Goods, Fashion & Gallantry and Education, PayU’s report highlights strong double-digit growth in Latin America’s total year-on-year consumer spend, outperforming other regions analysed and making it the new global e-commerce powerhouse.

Over $14bn was spent online on Fashion & Gallantry alone in LatAm in 2020, according to external data. On PayU platforms, we saw triple digit (191%) growth in year-on-year consumer online spend in this sector. Argentina noted 447% year-on-year growth in total spend and the highest average transaction value, $108.

Meanwhile, nearly $3.8bn was spent on Beauty & Cosmetics in LatAm in 2020. Mexico and Brazil showed the most opportunity for online retailers in this sector, in terms of highest total consumer online spend. On PayU platforms total online spend in this shopping category increased in these countries by 1410% and 1276% respectively between 2019 and 2020, with total year-on-year growth in online spend in the region reaching 133%.

Mexico and Argentina were consistent performers in Latin America in the Education sector too. Both markets showed huge triple-digit growth on PayU’s platforms. Total online spend on Education across LatAm grew by 69% year-on-year, with Mexico leading at 139% followed by Argentina at 138%, according to PayU data.

Looking at total online spend on Digital Goods, the LatAm region grew by 23% in 2020, with Chile experiencing tremendous 211% year on year growth, according to PayU data. External data analysis showed that Mexico and Argentina again performed very well, with total online consumer spend growing by 35% to a total of $1.7bn in Mexico, and by 22% to a value of $543m in Argentina.

“With increased spending power and a fast-changing marketplace, Latin America offers huge opportunities to forward-thinking Emerging E-commerce Leaders exploring new revenue streams globally. Covid-19 has reshaped and accelerated how many people shop online, and retailers must consider where their next growth will come from or risk missing out. Conquering new markets will be critical for extending customer bases, particularly for online businesses based in more saturated markets.”

Mario Shiliashki, Chief Executive Officer, Payments, PayU

While the report highlights Latin American markets as a prime destination for e-commerce leaders looking to expand, it also includes new data from other growth opportunities for EELs.

Other emerging markets with strong growth opportunities for e-commerce leaders

For fashion retailers, Indian consumers’ spend in the Fashion & Gallantry sector sat at $13.2bn in 2020, making it an attractive destination for expansion, with annual e-commerce spend projected to reach $16bn by the end of 2021. In addition, Turkey experienced 43% growth between 2019-2020, with a total online spend of $4,7bn, and Poland followed at 24% growth while reaching total consumer spend, showing the opportunity in Eastern Europe for fashion-focused EELs.

Kenya and Nigeria meanwhile saw 42% and 32% year on year growth respectively in Digital Goods in 2020. According to data from PayU’s platforms, Africa offers further opportunities also in Education where, although Argentina and Mexico saw the most growth in 2020, South Africa boasted the highest transaction value, growing by $136 dollars from 2019 to $404 in 2020.

“As online retailers look to capitalise on consumers’ accelerated online shopping habits, the need for state-of-the-art technology and an understanding of complex infrastructural differences is critical. Emerging E-commerce Leaders can grow rapidly through choosing the right partner, safe in the knowledge that security and compliance are guaranteed, and they are working with local experts.”

Vladimir Malugin, Chief Commercial Officer, Payments, PayU

More interesting facts and insights from high-growth markets can be found in “The Next Frontier: the most promising markets for Emerging E-commerce Leaders in 2021 and beyond”, the white paper by PayU.

To download the white paper, please fill out the form below.

Methodology

To uncover growth opportunities for Emerging E-commerce Leaders PayU has conducted data analysis in 16 countries across five continents on four fast-growth consumer goods sectors: Beauty & Cosmetics (haircare, fragrances, personal care, skincare and make-up), Digital Goods (digital music, video on demand (VOD) platforms, streaming platforms, video and audio-conferencing platforms, and ePublishing), Fashion & Gallantry (apparel, footwear and bags & accessories), and Education (online courses, professional educational services, school publishing, and school and universities fees).

External data was primarily sourced from Statista in January 2021. In order to compare this directly to PayU’s own data, annual growth rate from 2019-2020 was calculated based on total e-commerce spend. 2021 projections were generated in 2020 by Statista and based on consumer spending between January 2019 and September 2020. All PayU data was sourced in January 2021.

The data is taken from the following countries: Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and India.