Super November sales in Latin America

November is considered the best month for online sales. Every one of us waits tirelessly for this month to come around, especially the people in Latin America (LATAM). It is quite surprising, yet interesting, that a whole load of important dates come in this month. In this complete guide, we’ll take you on a journey where you’ll see every aspect of such important dates, so you can get your shopping gear on at the right time and place. Are you ready? Let’s see what November has in store for us!

What are the opportunities for Super November Sales in Latin America?

The whole world has become a victim of the coronavirus pandemic. It negatively affected a lot of businesses, but we have seen e-commerce prospering. The people who already shopped online were given a push, while those who refused online shopping were forced to do so for their own safety.

Last year, Latin America welcomed a swarm of e-commerce businesses and boosted its digitalization. The region is the home of over 600 million people, so this boost proved to be quite significant for the sales market.

A study found that by 2022 e-commerce businesses will penetrate 63% of LATAM with the presence of over 84 million new consumers. It is quite surprising to witness such increased penetration because, at the start of 2020, it was just 45%. The COVID-19 pandemic has also contributed to double the estimates regarding the online consumers in Latin America. For instance, Brazil has secured a position in the 10 largest e-commerce markets all around the globe.

What does the upcoming sales season have in store for all the brands?

In the last couple of years, November has been the month that boosted sales in Latin America. This region has shown consistent YoY (year over year) growth. In 2019, the seasonal dates of November were behind the influx of USD 2.4 billion in the online sales in Mexico, Chile, Peru, Brazil, and Argentina combined. Out of USD 2.4 billion, more than half of it has been the result of El Buen Fin in Mexico and Black Friday in Brazil.

Extra content: Get ready for Black Friday & Cyber Monday in Brazil

There is a global media platform named Criteo that took the sales data of 2019 and 2020 from a few retailers and compared them. This data included the sales that occurred during the first three weeks of November. See below the information they gathered when they compared the e-commerce sales of Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia with that of Canada and the United States:

Source: Criteo

The mentioned above graph shows the increase in sales in November in various countries such as Colombia, Peru, Brazil, and Mexico. The spikes around the 11th of October in these countries are probably because of the Double Eleven celebrations. Double Eleven, also referred to as Single’s Day, is a Chinese event that has found its way through several countries of Latin America as well.

Extra content: Double 11: The Big Opportunities for Marketers

The seasonal dates of November can give the merchants and traders many opportunities to make a mark in the e-commerce world. However, to maximize your sales and profits, you need to be prepared for the four most important November dates

November – The month behind the Super Sales

If you’re still with us, you have probably gotten the jinx that November is by far the best month for the merchants to boost their sales. Talking about LATAM specifically, it doesn’t matter if you sell to the local customers or cross-border customers; the opportunities are only going to get doubled. So, if you’re a merchant and you want to embrace such opportunities, you can’t ignore these four November sales dates.

1) Black Friday

Region: All countries of Latin America
Date in 2021: 26th November

Black Friday is a very famous holiday date that is well-known all around the globe, especially in LATAM. The holiday primarily originated in North America, but it later penetrated through the entire globe and became one of the major shopping weekends. Black Friday is generally a colloquial term of Friday that is followed by Thanksgiving Day. It has been recognized by a myriad of Latin American countries such as Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Panama, Costa Rica, and many more. All of such countries witnessed tremendous growth in sales and profits YoY.

According to Visa, Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for a 58% increase in e-commerce purchases, and this was all due to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In 2020, the Black Friday sales contributed BRL 4 billion to Brazil’s economy, which was 25% more than in 2019. Because of Black Friday in Colombia, the economy gathered over $81 million from e-commerce sales in 2020. Although the figure is promising, it didn’t exceed the one recorded in the previous year.

2) Cyber Monday

Region: All countries of Latin America
Date in 2021: 29th November

Things don’t just stop after Black Friday because we all have Cyber Monday to heat them up again. Cyber Monday is the Monday after Thanksgiving in the whole of the United States, and in a short time, it became one of the most successful shopping dates all around the globe. Cyber Monday, just like Black Friday, was created to boost e-commerce sales. So, when a great online shopping deal happens, how could the inhabitants of Latin America be left behind, right?

According to Statista, Argentina was the country that witnessed the most exponential growth in sales on Cyber Monday in 2019. The sales were 281% more as compared to the regular days. The country was followed by Brazil, Chile, and Mexico considering the maximum sales and profits. See in the following chart how online sales of Latin American countries increased on Black Friday and Cyber Monday compared to any other day in 2019:

Source: Statista

3) El Buen Fin

Region: Mexico
Date in 2021: 19th – 22nd November

El Buen Fin is referred to as the Mexican version of Black Friday. In English, it is known as Mexico’s Good Weekend, and it came to the surface in 2011. The prime reason behind its creation was to boost the local economy.

Mexicans celebrate El Buen Fin on the third weekend of November, and it is considered the most important weekend for all Mexicans. It is quite astonishing that this shopping holiday weekend ranks second while Christmas secures the first position (Source: eMarketer).

However, with the onset of COVID-19 and its fatal consequences, everything turned bleak, even the country’s economy. To recall that holiday spirit, El Buen Fin came with an extended version. Instead of four days, Mexicans celebrated El Buen Fin for 12 straight days in 2020. During that year, the total sales reached 238.9 billion Mexican pesos.

Such tremendous growth is considered the country’s first and biggest step towards economic rebound after the pandemic. In 2019, the country’s economy gathered 118 billion Mexican pesos, but this seems like an unfair comparison of YoY sales since there was a lesser number of days in 2019.

4) Double Eleven

Region: All countries of Latin America
Date in 2021: 11th November

Double Eleven is an unofficial Chinese holiday and a shopping season that was primarily created in support of all the singles out there. Because of this, Double Eleven is also known as Singles’ Day that occurs at the end of every year on 11th November. We all know how many things in Chinese pop culture symbolize something, so why would Double Eleven be any different? The date of Double Eleven is quite symbolic – 11/11. The numbers in this date represent four single people.

Undoubtedly, Double Eleven emerged in China, but it soon captured the attention of the entire globe when Alibaba promoted the date. EBANX has also played a crucial role on amplifying the growth of Double Eleven sales in LATAM. Some people even say that this event is even bigger than Black Friday, especially the Brazilians. Check below chart to see the number of online orders that took place on Alibaba on Double Eleven.

Source: Statista

The other seasonal dates are all about shopping for gifts to give to your loved ones but, Double Eleven is all about you. This is the moment where you treat yourself. In that case, retail and beauty verticals perform better than the others. In 2020, the total sales that occurred on 11/11 were reported to be USD 74 billion in GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume).

How can you prep your business for Super November Sales?

Now that you know are familiar to the importance of November seasonal dates, it’s time to see how you can get your e-commerce business ready for the busiest month of the year. Every method listed below is intended to boost your online sales. So, let’s jump right into each of them!Secure checkout experience
When it comes to online shopping, people only order from the website that they can trust. Therefore, it is very important to build a strong relationship between your customer and your brand. Talking about the Latin American customers, there can be a lot of people who haven’t had a single direct purchase from your website. Thus, in order for them to be a part of your business, you need to keep your direct-to-consumer strategy up-to-date.

To do this, you must ensure a safe checkout to all your customers, regardless of the chosen payment method. You must incorporate a promising fraud prevention strategy to avoid any kind of mishaps during purchases. If you want to make your website more trustworthy for example, you need to display sound security badges and seals along with several customer support channels that are available throughout the shopping experience.

1) Different payment methods

Providing alternative payment methods provides you with an opportunity to reach a bigger audience. In LATAM, there are still tons of people who don’t use credit cards, and they prefer other payment methods that don’t involve banks whenever they shop online. For instance, Argentina is a country where the local payment method still outshines the others.

Finally, installments is another payment method that can prove to be a game-changer for your e-commerce business. This payment method allows the customers to divide their payments into monthly wages that are affordable and won’t disturb their budget.

2) Offer localized promotions and discounts

It is very important to provide your customers with a positive and safe experience throughout their shopping journey. But to achieve this, you need to understand your customer’s language, preference, habits, and culture. If you can’t understand any of it, it can be very difficult for you to grow your e-commerce business, especially in LATAM.

If you want to shine in the e-commerce world, you need to give your customers what they desire, and this can only happen if you engage with them. You need to invest in things that may seem irrelevant to you, but that for your end-user, can be very important. You can offer them website translation, local promotions, a smooth payment process, and diversification of your portfolio to help them.

3) Delivery options

Another thing that you need to implement this sales season is a great delivery experience.. Logistics is crucial for e-commerce business, and that is why you need to focus on it.

Mercado Libre, for example, offers same-day or next-day delivery to many customers living in the 18 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, all of which are free of cost. Next, we have the e-commerce giant, Amazon, which is also investing ferociously in logistics. In August 2021, Amazon started offering free one-delivery to its Brazilian Prime subscribers residing in 50 different cities.

4) Accept the local currency

A $20 product may convert into a $100 product, because of shipping costs, taxes, and all. Thus, many people give up when comparing the costs. Accepting local currency, therefore, is a great way to provide the best possible experience to your customers.

5) Transparency of the checkout information

As mentioned earlier, a trustworthy relationship between your customer and your brand is extremely important. To win the hearts of your clients, especially the international ones, you need to have checkout transparency. All the valuable information should be mentioned clearly on the website, so your shopper can trust your brand. This information includes:

• Pricing
• Discount
• Shipping Fees
• Taxes
• Returns
• Exceptions
• Technical specifications

Apart from this, you must have a customer support team that can speak your customers’ language, so . they will feel you care about them, and will be more propense to come back to shop some more.

Conclusion

November is undoubtedly the best month for your e-commerce business. As you saw, many local and global shopping events happen during this month, and every year they have conquered the hearts of Latin Americans more and more. We are sure that if you follow the hints presented in this guide your business won’t miss the shopping hype. So, remember the dates and get your e-commerce business ready, because there’s a lot to come during this holiday season!

Take a look into how the online market is being transformed in Latin America after the COVID-19 pandemic; and how Latin Americans will pay for goods from online retail to digital products and services including online games, streaming, ride-hailing, food delivery, and SaaS subscriptions.