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Amazon unveiled on Tuesday a big expansion of its Mexico storefront, launching the sale of physical goods and a third-party seller marketplace on the Spanish-language site amid an e-commerce boom in the country.
Amazon.com.mx — which launched two years ago and until Tuesday sold only e-books — now includes consumer electronics, sporting goods, DVDs, books, baby items, tools, appliances, beauty and grooming products and many other categories.
Amazon’s latest international push follows expansions by several major retailers — including Home Depot, Lowe’s and Zara — last year into Mexico has they sought to take advantage of its small but growing online retail market. Mexico has been overshadowed by the larger Brazil e-commerce market in the past. However, as Brazil’s economy slows and Mexico’s continues to grow, major US and European brands have been directing their attention at Mexico, Forrester analyst Zia Daniell Wigder said in a blog post Tuesday about Amazon’s move.
“Mexico’s time has come,” Wigder wrote, likening Mexico’s secondary status to that of India’s in the shadow of the larger Chinese market in Asia.
Amazon’s Mexico plans were expected, as a few news reports from last week claimed the expansion was coming.
Hoping to capture some of Mexico’s growth, Amazon said it opened its physical goods store there in a bigger way than it had with at any other international Amazon website at launch. Also, buyers can receive free shipping on orders above 599 pesos ($38) that are fulfilled by Amazon.
“We are launching in Mexico with more categories, more items and more features than any previous release we have made in other parts of the world,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said Tuesday in a letter to customers on Amazon.com.mx.
