Latin America News & Analysis

In response to COVID-19, Rappi has partnered with Colombian technology business KiwiBot to trial using robots for last mile food deliveries. The aim is to fulfil safe food deliveries, which reduce face-to-face contact and, therefore, prevent spreading the virus further. To protect customers’ safety, the robots are thoroughly disinfected before and after each delivery. “We believe that by pa...

France-based Casino said first quarter sales rose 7.9% in organic terms, while it enjoyed same-store sales growth of 6.4% across its three divisions: France Retail, Cdiscount and Latam Retail. Total net sales fell by 0.8%, to €8.3 bn, due to the store disposals and closures it undertook in 2019. The retailer, as part of its Q4 results announcement, had already removed guidance for its 2020 full f...

Mercado Libre is as Argentinian business that operates an online marketplace. It has operations in most countries in Latin America. Argentina has become the second market, after Mexico, in which it has launched the Supermercado Libre service. Founder and CEO Marcos Galperín, previously announced plans to launch the service in mid-2020 but has brought this forward due to unprecedented demand fo...

On 13 April Grupo Éxito, the Colombian subsidiary of French retail group Casino, launched its “Compra y recoge” (buy and collect) initiative. Customers can make purchases either online or by telephone and arrange to collect their completed order in store free of charge. How does this different to regular click and collect? Éxito has offered click and collect for several years, but consideri...

Colombia becomes the third country in Latin America to implement gender restrictions during the lockdown, after  Peru and Panama. ‘Peak and gender’ lockdown As of 13 April, the country’s capital city, Bogotá, has imposed a ‘peak and gender’ rule. The measure ordered by Bogotá’s mayor, Claudia López, enables men to leave the house on calendar days that are odd numbers, and women to leav...

Walmex (Walmart Mexico) has introduced a new pricing initiative called “Los Esenciales” (The Essentials), which sees 125 essential items sold at their lowest possible prices in order to support the Mexican population during the COVID—19 pandemic. This promotion will feature in all Walmex’s Bodega Aurrera discount banners, which account for more than 2,000 stores across the country. Items will ...

Due to restrictions put in place due to COVID-19, kiosks (traditional convenience stores) and Chinese supermarkets (traditional mom-and-pop neighbourhood supermarkets) are facing their toughest challenge of recent years. Government restrictions significantly impacting kiosks Argentina’s mandatory social isolation decree, which was released on March 19, stated wholesalers, supermarkets and l...

On Friday 3 April Peru’s government announced its decision to close all markets, supermarkets, pharmacies and banks on upcoming Sundays, with immediate effect. Peru’s Interior Minister Carlos Morán warned the public no one should leave their home on Sundays and there are no excuses as no services will be open. This restrictive measure has been put in place to reduce the spread of coronaviru...

Colombian discount retailer D1 has formed alliances with two online delivery platforms, Mi Aguila and Picap, to offer customers home delivery during the coronavirus epidemic. Initially 2,000 motorcyclists from Picap’s Pimarket service will be used and close to 2,000 drivers from Mi Aguila (My Eagle). The alliances were launched in Colombia’s capital city, Bogotá, on Saturday 28 March and will ...

Portuguese retail group Jerónimo Martins, owner of Colombia-based discount chain Ara, recently announced its 2019 results and detailed plans to open 130 new Ara stores in 2020. The business launched in Colombia just seven years ago and closed 2019 with 616 stores, with 85 (84 net) openings in 2019. Source: IGD Research Ara delivers solid 2019 results Ara reported total revenue of ...