Argentina Online Landscape

A third of the Argentine population now shops online. There are 16.8 million e-commerce users. The average spend is USD$353, in an online market that is said to be worth around USD$5.9 billion. By 2021, is it expected that there will be 19.9 million online shoppers, with an average budget of USD$492.

Online penetration is concentrated most heavily in the younger generations, with 91% of under-25s using the internet; 87% of 25-34 year-olds; 85% of those aged 35-44 and those aged 45-54 are online, while the percentage is considerably lower for older generations. Only 68% of the over-55s are online.

Fashion leads as the most popular product type to be bought online by the style-conscious Argentines. USD$1.96 billion is spent on threads, while toys, hobby, and DIY enjoy a joint second place with a joint market share of USD$1.4 billion. Most online shoppers (85%) still buy from their desktop computer, rather than with their smartphone but the best Argentinian PR agencies still recognise mobile’s power to influence desktop purchases.

Social media use has grown exponentially in recent years, with 50% of the population regularly using Facebook; expected to grow by another 15% in the next 6 years. The most popular social networks in Argentina are Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram. Just under half of the population has a smartphone currently, a 10% growth in just two years and it’s estimated that over 60% of Argentines will have a smartphone by 2022.

Import tariffs were put on foreign produced electronic goods under the Kirchner government in 2010, in an attempt to bolster national production and sales. Companies that were not producing locally could not penetrate the market, as taxes made their pricing prohibitive. However, import taxes on electronic goods were recently slashed, and this instantly translated into massive price drops and sales of laptops and computers has been growing steadily. Apple has suggested that it will open its first Argentine store in 2018, and we are already seeing is a steady growth tech PR in Argentina.