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1. a survey on the conditions for e-commerce in the region
E-READINESS
in Latin America
The context for
e-commerce keeps
improving in the region.
In 2011 the e-readiness
index reached 0.80, a
30% increase over 2009.

2. T
he e-readiness index is based
on a model that measures
context variables impacting the
D
OL
development of e-commerce.
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MA
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ARGENTINA 40.9 10,234.6 16.2 67.4 0.84 231.7
version of the e-readiness index, which BOLIVIA 10.6 2,152.6 14.6 18.7 0.35 79.8
shows the biannual evolution of Latin BRAZIL 194.9 12,043.7 17.3 43.0 1.84 220.6
America’s e-readiness measured by CHILE 17.4 13,657.6 14.2 42.0 0.57 194.8
five main dimensions: market volume, COLOMBIA 46.1 7,061.6 16.0 47.3 0.77 154.8
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 10.1 5,641.4 15.5 41.0 0.47 74.7
infrastructure, banking system penetration, ECUADOR 15.0 4,358.1 15.5 32.7 0.47 128.9
consumers´ technology adoption and the GUATEMALA 14.7 3,179.6 14.3 15.5 0.37 105.5
strength of local suppliers. HONDURAS 8.2 2,070.9 15.4 10.9 0.31 74.8
MEXICO 109.7 10,394.8 16.6 29.4 1.17 179.4
NICARAGUA 5.9 1,201.3 16.4 21.2 0.34 48.1
Research shows that Latin American PANAMA 3.6 8,656.0 15.3 42.4 0.45 151.1
countries have increased their abilities PERU 30.0 5,936.3 16.2 29.5 0.58 98.3
to use the internet as an effective PUERTO RICO 3.7 23,927.5 15.4 47.0 0.59 222.9
channel to reach final consumers. Trying PARAGUAY 6.5 3,590.0 15.9 25.5 0.38 62.0
EL SALVADOR 5.9 3,832.5 14.7 16.7 0.32 167.0
to understand the evolution of these URUGUAY 3.4 14,194.5 14.2 55.1 0.53 286.4
context variables and the gaps between VENEZUELA 29.8 10,537.6 16.1 34.7 0.63 237.9
Latin America and other countries, the SPAIN 46.1 32,366.4 9.9 67.3 0.96 420.4
e-readiness index considers the United UNITED STATES 312.9 48,240.5 7.9 78.4 2.96 467.6
LATIN AMERICA 556.4 9,689.6 16.4 39.0 1.15 184.1
States and Spain as benchmarks. For
the first time a Latin American country
L
atin America’s e-commerce ecosystem in 2009
surpasses one of the benchmark countries.
was very different from today’s. In only two years
Brazil’s e-readiness (1.24) exceeds Spain’s
almost all e-readiness indicators grew signifi-
(1.20). In other words, Brazil’s e-readiness
cantly in variables that improve objective conditions for
is 3% higher than Spain’s, while it was 5%
lower in 2009. Per chance
Evolution of e-commerce (US$ Million) and
But with 31% biannual growth, Brazil is e-readiness index in Latin America
not the only fast growing country in Latin source: AméricaEconomía Intelligence
America. E-readiness in Ecuador (58%), e-commerce e-readiness
Argentina and Uruguay (49%) are also
70 0.90
significant. 0.80
60 0.80
0.70
These factors drove the regional average 50 0.62
0.70
43.2
up to 0.80, a 30% increase over 2009, 40 0.52
0.55 0.60
30.2
when it reached 0.62. This means, that 0.42
0.47 0.50
30 21.7
in practical terms, Latin America is better 0.35
0.38 0.40
15.6
placed than it was two years ago, but is 20
7.5 10.5 0.30
still far from the 2009 benchmark of Spain 10
1.6
3.0 4.8
0.20
(1.00) which indicates a mature market. 0 0.10
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
2 latin america e-readiness survey

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1,295.8 310.0 139.4 30.2 0.85 561.7 530.9 14,588 0.45 8.0 21.6 2,695 0.83 no 5 0.14 0.69
883.8 32.1 9.0 54.2 0.34 26.3 188.2 1,629 0.06 1.0 3.1 146 0.37 no 0 0.04 0.26
1,242.6 308.0 84.6 16.0 1.04 889.0 1,367.6 174,920 1.14 21.1 14.7 25,553 1.35 no 21 0.50 1.24
1,234.7 429.0 114.4 19.2 0.98 301.8 732.6 8,200 0.58 17.0 14.0 1,490 1.15 yes 8 0.60 0.80
1,003.2 127.0 106.5 25.6 0.68 208.2 358.5 9,500 0.23 3.7 4.0 998 0.27 no 3 0.11 0.48
857.3 26.8 37.6 17.9 0.67 186.9 320.5 2,073 0.18 7.7 8.6 698 0.68 no 1 0.00 0.46
1,056.6 153.8 42.3 24.9 0.61 147.5 200.3 3,349 0.14 9.5 5.2 238 0.54 no 0 0.04 0.42
1,259.9 28.3 17.6 39.6 0.47 149.7 130.2 2,427 0.14 1.3 4.2 258 0.58 yes 1 0.12 0.36
1,202.7 24.8 108.6 31.0 0.57 82.4 183.1 814 0.12 N,D, 2.1 94 0.41 no 1 0.12 0.35
861.9 215.0 107.9 24.9 0.71 152.5 764.2 36,448 0.27 7.3 6.5 6,137 0.70 no 23 0.34 0.69
713.2 73.0 8.1 22.0 0.51 127.8 130.6 629 0.11 0.7 2.1 39 0.22 no 1 0.12 0.30
1,614.2 32.7 40.5 11.7 0.94 166.9 587.4 1,185 0.67 2.1 5.6 340 0.45 no 1 0.12 0.61
989.4 154.0 30.4 36.9 0.51 230.2 329.5 5,042 0.23 2.3 5.3 611 0.42 yes 2 0.15 0.42
838.5 286.9 147.9 30.0 0.65 368.4 492.5 1,637 0.48 7.6 4.3 1,961 1.20 no 0 0.04 0.63
882.5 143.1 6.0 17.6 0.58 155.4 152.4 870 0.18 5.9 2.6 128 0.38 no 0 0.04 0.37
1,516.8 112.6 29.7 37.0 0.56 128.6 250.5 1,297 0.17 3.4 2.5 154 0.47 no 1 0.12 0.37 Note: This table shows the
1,362.5 189.4 174.3 19.2 0.98 653.4 444.1 1,040 0.66 17.4 11.8 273 0.91 no 0 0.04 0.71 dimensions and the main
966.9 195.1 102.0 15.3 0.89 278.8 516.6 8,850 0.34 4.1 6.5 1,418 0.53 no 0 0.04 0.51 data used to construct
1,265.9 528.9 240.6 15.5 1.33 907.8 602.5 57,243 0.94 30.3 23.7 11,895 1.65 yes - 1.16 1.20 them, but does not include
1,046.9 1,058.0 274.0 55.0 1.54 1,558.4 1,665.1 521,000 1.90 64.9 88.0 194,300 4.15 yes - 2.53 2.48 all the information used in
this survey.
1,097.5 229.1 87.5 26.9 0.82 461.9 803.4 274,499 0.58 11.3 10.1 43,231 0.86 - 68 0.30 0.80
*: Only includes public platforms.
e-commerce. Big bang
Growth rates were positively affected by Technology Evolution of e-readiness in Latin America between
2009 and 2011
Adoption, a dimension that grew by 0.45 points (113%)
SOURCE: AméricaEconomía Intelligence
between 2009 and 2011. Increases in internet buyers, sa-
2011
les volumes and mobile broadband penetration drove this Market Volume 2009
sub-index from 0.41 in 2009 to 0.86 in 2011. Neverthe-
less the gap with benchmark countries increased conside-
rably. In the case of the U.S., broadband penetration grew
from 14% to 60%, driving the overall index from 2.25 to Technology Technological
infrastructure
4.15, while Spain’s index increased moderately from 1.0 adoption
to 1.65. The only Latin American countries that surpass
Spain’s benchmark are Brazil (1.35), Chile (1.15) and Puer-
to Rico (1.20). They share the ability to capitalize e-com-
merce infrastructure with significant sales increases.
Nicaragua (0.22), Colombia (0.27), Bolivia (0.37) and
Paraguay (0.38) are at the bottom. Nicaragua and Colom-
Supply Banking
bia also show the lowest growth in basis points (0.07). strength penetration
Increases in Technology Adoption can be explained by
the rhythm with which technology has entered in Latin to buy online and quickly adopt new technologies such as
American lifestyles. Latin Americans are now more willing mobile broadband. A five-fold increase in broadband con-
latin america e-readiness survey 3

4. nections, from 13 million in 2009 to 63 million in 2009, is crease, reflect new products such as coupon aggregators
a clear example. 24 million new online buyers, a 75% in- reaching new audiences, which in turn drove average sales
Online census Internet users 2006
Percentage of population with internet access, 2006 y 2011 Internet users 2011
Source: AméricaEconomía Intelligence
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0
ru
a
a
zil
ile
bia
c
or
la
s
o
a
ma
ico
y
r
ay
la
ain
es
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ua
ura
bli
tin
livi
xic
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Pe
ma
zue
ad
gu
Bra
tat
Ch
oR
lom
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ara
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down from 55 dollars to 49 dollars. is IT infrastructure. Fixed and mobile phone lines, PCs,
Another high-growth dimension between 2009 and 2011 broadband subscribers, lower internet rates and better
logistic systems drove up this sub-index by 0.23 points,
a 40% increase from 0.59 in 2009 to 0.82 in 2011. But,
Paving the internet once again, the gap between Latin America and benchmark
Percentage of population with broadband access,
2011 countries increased by 21%, in the case of the U.S., and
SOURCE: AméricaEconomía Intelligence 33% in the case of Spain. The only countries that kept up
30% high growth rates were Uruguay and Panama, with 41%
and 52% respectively reaching sub-indexes of 0.98 and
25%
0.94. Along with Brazil (1.04) and Chile (0.98) they are
the top-performers in terms of infrastructure. Puerto Rico
20%
(0.01), Venezuela (0.01), and El Salvador (0.02) practica-
lly stalled in this dimension.
15%
In general terms the Infrastructure sub-index growth
10%
was driven by higher computer and mobile phone pene-
tration, and lower internet access pricing. Internet users
5% grew 19% reaching 39% of Latin America’s total popula-
tion. There are, nevertheless, strong differences between
0 countries, 67% of Argentinians and 55% of Uruguayans
Bo na
Bra a
zil
nic olo le
Re bia
E blic
ate or
Ho mala
Me as
ara o
Pa ua
Pu Pe a
ert ru
Pa Rico
Sa y
Uru ador
Ve guay
Un Sp la
dS n
es
are connected, while less than 20% of Guatemalans, Sal-
El agua
livi
Nic xic
m
ite ai
mi C Chi
zue
Gu cuad
tat
ur
ti
g
an m
na
pu
en
nd
lv
o
ne
r
Arg
vadorians and Bolivians are.
Mobile phone penetration in Latin America did not
Do
4 latin america e-readiness survey

5. grow significantly because it is already one of the highest raising Latin America’s average. The rest of the region sco-
in the world, with 1.1 mobile phones per inhabitant. PC pe- res are significantly lower, with the exception of Argentina
netration grew by 30%; there are now 229 PCs per 1,000 (0.84) with a 29% increase between 2009 and 2011. With
inhabitants. 27 million internet users in a population of 41 million, Ar-
All these trends were somehow softened with the addi- gentina is Latin America’s number one country in connec-
tion of logistics to the sub-index, an indicator that was not tedness.
considered in the previous version of the e-readiness in- Regarding banking penetration, a dimension that in-
Cybercafé Hardware and currency for
Internet monthly access prices adjusted by e-commerce
purchasing power (US$) Number of computers, mobile phones, and credit
Source: AméricaEconomía Intelligence and debit cards in Latin America (in millions).
Source: AméricaEconomía Intelligence
50
Computers Credit cards
45
Mobile phones Debit cards
40 700
35 600
30 500
25
400
20
300
15
200
10
100
5
0
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Bo na
Bra a
mi C Ch l
nic ol ile
Re bia
E blic
ate or
Ho mala
M as
ara o
Pa gua
ma
ert ru
Pa Rico
Sa y
Uru dor
Ve uay
Un Sp la
dS n
es
zi
El agua
livi
Nic exic
ite ai
zue
Gu cuad
Pu Pe
tat
ur
ti
an om
na
lva
g
pu
en
nd
o
ne
r
Arg
Do
dex. This indicator includes the number of logistic opera- cludes the number of credit and debit cards as well as
tors, their delivery times, parcel conditions, prices, and re- ATMs, Latin America shows significant gaps with bench-
turns channels. mark countries. With a sub-index of 0.58, it lags behind
Spain (0.94) and the U.S. (1.90). However, the gap has
FERTILE LAND decreased since 2009, as both Spain (1.00) and the U.S.
Market volume as an e-readiness dimension includes de- (2.14) lowered their score by 6% and 11% respectively.
mographic, macroeconomic and online indicators. The- This dimension shows moderate growth rates (15%),
se are total population and population 25 to 35 years old, from 0.51 in 2009 to 0.58 in 2011, basically due to higher
GDP per capita and internet users. Even though it shows a credit card penetration. While credit cards increased from
much lower growth rate than other dimensions (only 3%), 369 to 462 per 1,000 inhabitants, debit cards grew from
it is the highest scoring sub-index for Latin America (1.15). 695 to 803. Chile has the largest population of debit card
It is also closer to Spain’s benchmark and more stable, gi- holders, but its sub-index decreased because methodolo-
ven population and economic growth factors. gical changes that excluded credit cards issued by local re-
Brazil (1.84) and Mexico (1.17) both show outstanding tailers, which represent 40% of the nation’s total.
sub-indexes, between the U.S. (2.96) and Spain (0.96), Every Latin American country saw a non-significant
latin america e-readiness survey 5

6. Takeoff load Country gaps
Evolution of e-readiness in Latin America, the
United States and Spain. Brazil: 1.24
source: AméricaEconomía Intelligence
3.00
Spain
United States
Latin America
L atin America’s giant responds
to its condition, showing the 1.8
highest regional e-readiness in- 1.6
2
Spain Latam Brazil
dex and surpassing Spain for the 1.4 1.2
2.50
first time in many indicators. 1
2.00 Nevertheless Brazil’s high in- 0.8
0.6
dex is based on its vast popula- 0.4
1.50 0.3
tion size and economic growth. 0.2
1.00 Its proportion of internet users 0
Market volume
Infrastructure
Banking penetration
Technology adoption
Supply strength
E-READINESS
(48%) is lackluster within the
0.50
market volume dimension and
0 lower than Spain (67.3%) and
many other Latin American coun-
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
tries such as Argentina (67.4%),
growth in bank penetration. Brazil leads regional growth Uruguay (55.1%), Colombia (47.3%) and Puerto Rico (47%).
rates with an 18% increase (0.17 points), followed by Chi- In terms of infrastructure, Brazil’s monthly broadband
le (0.58) and surpassing Spain’s sub-index (1.14), which access prices adjusted by purchasing power (US$ 16) are
measures only credit cards and ATMs. lower than the region’s average of US$ 26. But broadband pe-
netration is very low: 84.6 connections per 1,000 inhabitants
Brazil has 889 credit cards per 1,000 inhabitants, fo-
and below the region’s average of 87.6
llowed by Uruguay with 653, while the regional average is
The addition of the logistic variables in this dimension
469, including countries such as Bolivia or Honduras that
helped as Brazil enjoys a good network of logistics providers.
have less than 100. Even though Latin America’s credit card
They offer good parcel conditions, but still have room for im-
indicators show the largest growth rates among other sub-
provement in reverse logistics: exchanges and returns.
indexes, the gap with the U.S. is still very large.
In terms of local supply strength, an indicator that mea-
Chile: 0.80
sures state efforts to allow online tax payments and the
strength of local retailers, Latin America is still low (0.30).
This indicator shows a 38% increase compared with 2009’s
C hile shows increases in con-
nectivity and internet users 1,8
from 33% en 2009 to 42%. It 1,4
1,6
Spain Latam Chile
0.22, basically because 7 new countries had figures to be also shows the highest penetra- 1,2
evaluated. But Latin America is still way behind the United tion rates for PCs, with 429 per 0,8
1
States (0.53) and Spain (1.16). The only countries that show 1,000 inhabitants and closer to 0,6
0,4
smaller gaps are Chile (0.60, with 69% of taxpayers using Spain’s benchmark (529). Chile 0,3
the state’s online platform), Brazil (0.50) and, to a lesser is also a showcase in government 0,2
0
extent, Mexico (0.34). Other countries have an average of efforts to promote online tran-
Market volume
Infrastructure
Banking penetration
Technology adoption
Supply strength
E-READINESS
0.08. saction, as its tax-payment pla-
This is the region’s weakest point. High investments to tform has promoted technology
develop online taxes, and retailers with strong online pay- adoption among the population.
ment capacities, are still pending, especially in smaller eco- 17% of all Chileans have mobile
nomies. However this dimension can improve significantly broadband, one of the highest percentages in the region after
in incoming years, when the impact of new coupon aggre- Brazil (21.1%) and Uruguay (17.4%).
gators will be assessed. These have served as support for Chile shows some rigidity in its banking sector. Credit
small and medium-sized companies and entrepreneurs. cards increased but are still low compared to debit cards. The
6 latin america e-readiness survey

7. ratio between debit cards to credit cards in Chile is 2.4, while lower growth. Credit card num- Spain Latam Mexico
1,8
it is 1.7 for Latin America. This hinders cross-border transac- bers also show strong growth ra- 1,6
tions that Chileans could potentially make. tes while remaining below regio- 1,4
1,2
nal averages. 1
Uruguay: 0.71 But the most striking improve- 0,8
U
0,6
ruguay shares many featu- Spain Latam Uruguay ment in Mexico was retail itself. 0,4
1,8
res with developed coun- 1,6 Seven million Mexicans bought 0,3
0,2
tries regarding e-commerce, 1,4 online in 2011 while in 2009 only 0
1,2
Market volume
Infrastructure
Banking penetration
Technology adoption
Supply strength
E-READINESS
specifically in infrastructure and 1 4.7 million did. At the same time
technology adoption. However 0,8 online sales per capita increased
0,6
it lacks a solid supply. It is a ty- 0,4 from US$ 557 a year in 2009 to
pical problem in smaller econo- 0,3 US$ 867 in 2011.
0,2
mies where scale is an obstacle 0 These improvements were
Market volume
Infrastructure
Banking penetration
Technology adoption
Supply strength
E-READINESS
to large investments in online driven by local retailers such as Liverpool and Casa de Hie-
channels. But the public sector rro, that invested in new online channels. They’ve succeeded
has not yet developed an onli- in reaching the same online sales proportion as Chilean retai-
ne tax-payment system. Howe- lers, which is 200 visitors per US$ 1,000 in sales.
ver, new alternatives are being
set up considering the size of the Uruguayan economy and Venezuela: 0.51
its companies.
Argentina: 0.69
V enezuela wants to wake up.
Government is promoting 1,8
broadband penetration based 1,4
1,6
Spain Latam Venezuela
A rgentina shares several fea- on very low access monthly pri- 1,2
Spain Latam Argentina
1
tures with Uruguay, but with 1,8
1,6
ces (US$ 15, Latin America’s se- 0,8
0,6
the advantage of a larger size. 1,4 cond lowest after Panama’s US$ 0,4
1,2
However, it fails in the very same 1 11) and a receptive population. 0,3
0,2
variables than its smaller neigh- 0,8 More than 20% of Venezuelan 0
0,6
bor. It lacks a truly developed 0,4 internet users are online buyers.
Market volume
Infrastructure
Banking penetration
Technology adoption
Supply strength
E-READINESS
online supply, which makes litt- 0,3 And retailers are improving their
0,2
le sense considering the percen- 0 supply.
Market volume
Infrastructure
Banking penetration
Technology adoption
Supply strength
E-READINESS
tage of connected Argentinians: Venezuela’s main liability is
67%, the same percentage than banking penetration. Its credit
Spaniards. Even more, Argentina and debit card numbers per 1,000 inhabitants (278.8 and
shows the highest Latin Ameri- 516.6 respectively) are below the regional averages of 461.9
can index of e-consumers (21%). and 803.4.
Spain Latam Colombia
Maybe the answer lies in technology adoption, Argenti- 1,8
na shows an index of 0.83, below Brazil (1.35), Chile (1.15), Colombia: 0.48 1,6
I
1,4
Puerto Rico (1.20) and Uruguay (0.91), This can be explained n 2009 Colombia was a promi- 1,2
in part, by low mobile broadband penetration, only 8% and sing country for e-commerce, 1
0,8
below the region’s average of 11.3%. but it underperformed in many 0,6
dimensions. Internet users grew 0,4
0,3
Mexico: 0.69 moderately (47.3% in 2011 from 0,2
T he sleeping giant has awakened, at least in terms of con- 42% in 2009), retailers have 0
Market volume
Infrastructure
Banking penetration
Technology adoption
Supply strength
E-READINESS
nectivity. Broadband penetration has increased signifi- been timid (retail strength rated
cantly (108 connections per 1,000 inhabitants in 2011 vs. 0.11 in 2011 from just 0.10 in
93 in 2009) while the number of base users shows a much 2009) and Colombian banks did
latin america e-readiness survey 7

8. little to broaden their user base. For example, in 2009 the- since Peru has the lowest rates Spain Latam Peru
1,8
re were 329 debit cards per 1,000 inhabitants. In 2011 the- of e-consumers (5%) and mobi- 1,6
re were just 358. And this is Colombia’s highest growth indi- le broadband penetration (2.3%) 1,4
1,2
cator. in Latin America. Online sales al- 1
But Colombia’s potential resides in demand. E-commerce most doubled from US$ 276 mi- 0,8
0,6
sales almost doubled in two years from US$ 435 million to llion in 2009 to US$ 611 million 0,4
US$ 998 million. in 2011, but only because of hig- 0,3
0,2
her per capita sales by the same 0
Peru: 0.42
Market value
Infrastructure
Banking penetration
Technology adoption
Supply strength
E-READINESS
number of consumers.
P eru has basically stalled. It shows low growth in connec-
tivity, with just 22,000 new broadband connections in
two years, while the percentage of internet users grew from
The only strong growth varia-
ble in Peru is credit card penetra-
tion, from 160 to 230 per 1,000
27.4% to 29.5%. Technology adoption is also unimpressive, inhabitants.
Methodology
This index reflects the conditions of a country for the development of e-commerce. It
is based on 23 economic and technological variables selected on their econometric
relevance and on the advice of industry and e-commerce experts. This year a logistics
sub-index was added to measure the quality of delivery services for goods sold online. Publisher & editor
Elías Selman Carranza
Data from 2001 to 2011 were used to assess each variable, reaching statistically solid
AméricaEconomía Intelligence
results. To deal with different measuring units, all data were re-scaled using a value Jaime Contreras S., director
of “1.00” for each sub-index result for Spain in 2009. So this country and this year Rodrigo Dorn, chief researcher
serve as a benchmark: a country will have a value above or below 1.00 depending on Dalomy Switt, researcher
its results compared to Spain’s index for 2009. The sources of information for this Design and art direction
survey were: World Bank, Eclac, International Monetary Fund, Cisco, 3G Americas, Álvaro Araya Urquiza
Alexa.com, the financial and banking commissions of each country, as well as tax Editor
Andrés Almeida Farga
authorities. We thank all the institutions that provided information; industry leaders
that collaborated in the construction of this methodology, and Visa Company, which
promoted this survey.
e-readiness
Market volume Technological Banking Technology Supply strength
infrastructure penetration adoption
Total population Fixed phones Credit cards Mobile Retail strength Online tax
broadband payments
Population 25 to Mobile phones Debit cards e-consumers Nº of retailers
35 years old
GDP per capita Personal Online sales % of online sales
computers ATMs
Disclaimer:
% of internet Broadband Online presence The use of this information is the
users connections
sole and exclusive responsibility of
Broadband Diversity of users. Visa or AméricaEconomía do
access prices supply not take responsibility for its use as
a benchmark for commerce, legal
Mobile and regulatory measures or other.
broadband prices
Logistics
services
8 latin america e-readiness survey