Mercado Livre Announces R$ 17 Billion Investments for Expansion and Creation of Thousands of Jobs in Brazil

Mercado Libre is Going Against Its Competitors and, Despite the Negative Economic Scenario in Brazil, the Company Announced It Will Make Billion-Dollar Investments in the Country Focused on Logistics and Mercado Pago

Mercado Libre, one of the largest e-commerce platforms in Latin America, announced that it plans to increase its investments in Brazil by 70% this year alone. This increase is equivalent to R$ 17 billion and represents a strategy to strengthen and grow the company’s business in the country, according to what was reported last Tuesday (22) in a statement released by the company. A large part of these investments will be directed to Mercado Pago, a fintech of the group that provides payment services, transfers, and mobile top-ups. This segment already accounts for more than a third of Mercado Libre’s revenue in the country.

Mercado Libre Will Build 4 Distribution Centers in São Paulo  

The company is also expected to allocate a significant portion of the new investments to expanding its logistics capacity. As a result, 4 new Distribution Centers will be developed in the state of São Paulo, expanding the company’s product distribution capacity throughout Brazil.

Mercado Libre is going against the trend of its competitors, who view the economic situation in Brazil and Latin America with some skepticism. The e-commerce giant is expanding its operations in the country, increasingly focusing on financial services.

In the past year, its investments in the Brazilian subsidiary were equivalent to the same amount spent in the previous four years. Last month, the company also announced significant investments in Mexico, exceeding US$ 1.4 billion. This amount will also be directed toward expanding logistics capacity, given that the country was responsible for the highest net profit for Mercado Libre in the region in the fourth quarter.

New Investments and New Job Openings

The expansion of investments directly impacts the creation of new jobs. Just in the past year, Mercado Libre made more than 16,000 hires across the continent, with 7,000 of those in Brazil.

The expectation is that this year will follow the same path. In February, the company announced the opening of more than 750 job openings, mainly focusing on the technology and innovation area.

Mercado Libre was founded in Argentina in 1999, starting operations in Brazil the same year. The group grew in the following decades and diversified its business, although e-commerce remains its strongest area. Mercado Pago, for example, was created 18 years ago, in 2003, to be used for payments within the platform, and currently offers financial services outside the platform as well as a card machine.

Mercado Libre is the Favorite Among Consumers and Investors in Brazil

Following the e-commerce season, industry analysts have delved into the consumption trends in Brazil and which companies are managing to gain prominence. The Bradesco BBI and Credit Suisse highlighted in analyses with optical differences that one publicly traded company is drawing more attention than others. This company is Mercado Libre, which scored well in several metrics, with research suggesting that it is one of the leading e-commerce platforms in the country.

According to analysts, the company has the largest base of buyers, the lowest customer overlap with Shopee, the second-highest Net Promoter Score (NPS), a metric that measures customer satisfaction, trailing only Amazon, and several other highlights.