E-Commerce Not Quite Clicking in Mexico's Populous Consumer Market - Yet Nathaniel Parish Flannery - Fox News Latino
go to original April 25, 2015

Take a walk through Mexico's notorious Tepito black market (CCTV)

In Mexico City the notorious Tepito market is still the place of choice to get the best deals on anything from DVDs, mostly bootlegs brought in from the U.S., to men suits, beach towels and toys.

Despite its enormous potential, online commerce has yet to take off among the country’s 122 million residents – the largest population in Latin America after Brazil.

As many as one third of Mexicans own a smartphone, and yet Tepito market, not the Internet, continues to be the top alternative for pricey department stores such as Liverpool and Palacio de Hierro.

“Tepito is known all around the world,” said Jesus Feliciano, a proud shop owner who says he isn’t worried about losing business to online retailers. He thinks it’s the department stores that will have to evolve.

“They’ll be obligated to lower their prices a bit to compete,” Feliciano said, pausing to smile and shake hands with an elderly passerby. “I’ve been here 52 years, I know pretty much everybody.”

While Feliciano and other vendors will probably continue to cater to hyper-local markets, nothing is likely to stop the slow but steady growth of the online commerce here, as retailers big and small learn to tap into a larger customer base.

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