Recently, Latin America has become the new battleground for Chinese cross-border e-commerce.
AliExpress, SHEIN, and Temu have already been competing in this market for some time, and now, TikTok Shop has officially joined the fray, launching successively in Mexico and Brazil. This means that all the major Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms have now gathered in Latin America, ready to fight for territory in this trillion-dollar market.
Image source: Google
TikTok Shop enters the market, directly launching a price war
TikTok Shop’s entry into Latin America this time is clearly well-prepared. To attract sellers, it has launched a 90-day commission-free policy in Mexico and Brazil, and afterwards only charges a 6% commission, much lower than SHEIN’s 16%. This strategy is straightforward: attract merchants with lower costs and quickly seize the market.
The results have indeed been impressive. During Mexico’s Hot Sale e-commerce promotion at the end of May, TikTok Shop’s daily sales peaked at nearly $800,000 and have remained strong since. More importantly, in mid-August, TikTok Shop will also open cross-border self-operation in Mexico, meaning domestic merchants can directly sell goods to Mexico via TikTok, without relying on local sellers anymore.
Image source: TikTok
Why did TikTok target Mexico first?
The Mexican market has several characteristics that made it TikTok Shop’s first choice. First, Mexico borders the United States and has a mature logistics system. Many cross-border merchants who already serve the US market can directly use the logistics network between the US and Mexico, shipping goods to the US first and then quickly transferring them to Mexico, saving the trouble of rebuilding the supply chain.
Secondly, Mexicans are more tolerant of higher prices than Chinese consumers. For example, a charging cable that sells for a dozen yuan in China can sell for over 100 yuan in a Mexican mall. This is not because Mexicans are particularly wealthy, but because there are fewer product choices locally and many goods are simply unavailable, so they can accept higher prices. This market environment is a natural opportunity for Chinese merchants who excel at supply chains.
Image source: Google
Local Latin American giants are getting nervous
Facing the fierce offensive from Chinese e-commerce platforms, Latin America’s local e-commerce giant Mercado Libre can no longer sit still. It has recently adjusted its strategy, lowering the minimum spending threshold for free shipping from 79 reais to 19 reais, and also reducing sellers’ logistics costs. This move is clearly aimed at retaining users with cheaper services and preventing new players like TikTok and Temu from stealing business.
However, Mercado Libre is indeed under a lot of pressure. As the largest e-commerce platform in Latin America, it holds a 55% market share, far ahead of second-place Amazon (17.7%), but the growth rate of Chinese platforms is simply too fast. Data shows that by the end of the second quarter last year, Temu’s monthly active users in Mexico had reached 8.3 million, SHEIN had 7.9 million, and AliExpress had 5.8 million. In comparison, Mercado Libre’s 10.2 million monthly active users are still number one, but its lead is being rapidly eroded.
Image source: nocnoc
Logistics and payment: two major challenges for Chinese platforms
Although the market opportunity is huge, Chinese e-commerce platforms also face many challenges in Latin America. The biggest problem is logistics. Brazil and Mexico are vast and sparsely populated, with average transportation infrastructure, making it hard to guarantee delivery speed. Last year, many frequent online shoppers in Mexico complained that their packages were often lost, delayed, or even stolen.
Another issue is payment. Many people in Latin America do not have bank cards, and cash payments are still very common. For example, in Mexico, only 49% of adults have a bank account, and about 66 million people do not use banking services at all. If e-commerce platforms cannot solve the local payment problem, many potential users may not be able to place orders at all.
Image source: mexicobusiness.news
This battle has just begun
The scale of the Latin American e-commerce market is expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2027, with Brazil and Mexico being the two largest markets, together accounting for half of Latin America’s e-commerce. For Chinese e-commerce platforms, this is both a new blue ocean and a tough nut to crack. Logistics, payment, and local operations—all these aspects must be handled well to truly gain a foothold.
Now, the entry of TikTok Shop has made the competition even fiercer. With its huge user traffic and low commission strategy, it is indeed possible to quickly attract a group of merchants. But Mercado Libre and Amazon will not sit idly by, and the battle will only get more intense. Who will have the last laugh depends on who can better adapt to the Latin American market.