Do you know the Mercado Libre Marketplace and how it works?
When we think of E-commerce, digital sales or marketplaces, the first thing that comes to mind are giants like Amazon, AliExpress, Ebay, etc. That’s because we live in Europe and those are the kings of digital commerce. Without going any further, in Spain, Amazon invoiced a total of 7,567 million Euros last year, a stratospheric figure that is increasing.
If we leave the old continent and analyze current market trends, new business models or platforms, we will discover a Marketplace that is little known in Europe but very strong in Latin America: Mercado Libre.
What is Mercado Libre?
Mercado Libre is a company founded in Argentina in 1999 and dedicated to electronic commerce. Last year it billed a total of 20 billion in all of Latin America. This is one of the main reasons why it is said to stand up to Amazon.
Among Mercado Libre’s online sales services, whether for small and medium-sized companies, wholesalers, importers or a long etcetera, we find that it was a pioneer in the creation of its own payment platform, called MercadoPago.
MercadoPago is a collection tool for buyers and payments and credits to sellers. In addition, it also has its own logistics network, which has boosted expansion in countries like Brazil and Mexico.
Basic Marketplace Services
Among the Mercado Libre purchase and sale services, the options to be published are divided into four large blocks that are broken down:
- Products
- Vehicles
- Estate
- Services
Yes. In Mercado Libre you can sell from a mobile phone to a chalet, through the services of a private teacher. In large part, this strategy of allowing the sale of all kinds of products and services, added to its private logistics processes and other services, has made its expansion in recent years almost exponential.
In reference to the strategies that it has carried out to expand, Matteo Ceurvels, an expert analyst in marketplaces, affirms that:
“Mercado Libre has designed and perfected an ecosystem of solutions that has enabled it to overcome common barriers to e-commerce, making it by far the leading e-retail destination in Latin America.”
Returning to the issue of sales and what to sell, Mercado Libre is also characterized by the commitment to reliability that buyers can show towards sellers. Therefore, in 2019 they designed a reputation system so that users willing to consume would have fewer doubts when buying.
This reputation scale is displayed in a color scale: green (good), yellow (medium), and orange (bad).
Mercado Libre’s reputation scale takes into account shipping time, product quality or customer complaints.
As always and in the entire Marketplace, having free shipping and in less than 24 hours is always a positive point that will affect your reputation.
How to sell through Mercado Libre
Selling on Mercado Libre is simple: first you have to register on the platform, send the catalog with the optimized product sheets and finally start strategies to increase traffic to sell more.
And this brings us to another point: that of communicating.
I had a professor at the university who always said: If you don’t communicate, you don’t exist. In a world with so many impacts, advertisements and information, every brand, product or service needs to be known. For this same reason, Mercado Libre gives you the option to advertise on the platform to increase traffic and sales. Because if the seller wins, Mercado Libre wins.
MercadoAds
The advertising platform created by MercadoLibre is called MercadoAds and is governed by the motto “Power your business where everyone buys.”
This platform has given us positive results of 244% in branding advertising actions (brand building within Mercado Libre) and 25% in product advertising (KANTAR Media).
That is explained thanks to the success of the Marketplace in Latin America.
For branding, MercadoAds offers everything from enhancing the visitor experience with digital content, to target studies to learn about consumer trends.
For advertising actions on products or services, positioning actions, digital ads, and courses to specialize in digital advertising are offered on the platform.
What are the advantages of selling on Mercado Libre?
One of the most striking things is that this Marketplace does not apply commissions for maintenance or activation of the account. Which is perfect for people with few financial resources such as entrepreneurs. In addition, it is a very intuitive platform that does not require previous knowledge in Ecommerce, so it also favors small and medium-sized companies that decide to make the leap to electronic commerce.
We have previously commented that marketplaces are a kind of digital shopping center, we recall that statement again to say that in Mercado Libre you can also design your own online stores. Add the logo of the brand, the corporate colors or even customize the URL to facilitate the search for the brand. Mercado Libre wants to offer some autonomy to its sellers.
Finally, the security of selling on an international platform and with more than 20 years of experience, provides Marketplace users with a kind of insurance when promoting their products. The aforementioned, MercadoPago, is one of the reasons why you feel safe when buying and selling on the platform.
Information to take into account about Mercado Libre
Contextualizing in the European market: Mercado Libre does not have the importance and income that other marketplaces such as Amazon or AliExpress have. Even so, if a company wants to make the leap to Latin America, it is undoubtedly an action worth studying.
But once in the Hispanic American market, it must be emphasized that the competition in this Marketplace is very fierce. It is what it takes to be a leading market.
Another thing to take into account goes hand in hand with the advantage of not having to pay registration and maintenance fees. The money that one does not pay for it is later reflected in the high commissions per product sold. These commissions are around 10% and 30% of the sale price.
Diversify your business, save risk and earn profitability
If a brand only sells its products or services through a single channel, as in this case Mercado Libre, it risks depending entirely on Marketplace standards and updates. Creating your own online store or selling on different marketplaces at the same time can be a correct strategy to not depend on what a platform marks.
Do you need help to start selling on digital platforms?
At Década Studio we are aware of the importance for different businesses to be present in the largest online storefronts worldwide. Above all, when this presence translates into increased sales, expansion into new markets, minimal infrastructure and operating costs, and much more.
For this reason, we offer comprehensive management of the entire sales process so that you can get the most out of online sales. If you think that Mercado Libre is too far away, we have to emphasize that we are specialists in the king of Marketplaces: Amazon.
Since after hours invested in training and knowledge we have become one of the few agencies in Spain cataloged as Official Amazon Partners.
