👋 Hello!

Welcome to mid-week D2C Pulse: A bite-sized newsletter where we cover:

🌎 Exciting products from e-commerce markets of the world

🗞 Developments in online marketplaces globally

📊 Fun facts about the D2C ecosystem

Today’s pick:

🌳Global To Local: Latin America

The Amazon rainforest is the world's largest intact forest. It is home to more than 24 million people in Brazil alone. While it covers 2.6 million square miles across nine countries — Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana — about 60% of the Amazon Basin is in Brazil.

This week try to unravel the e-commerce scene in Latin America. 2021 was an extraordinary year for Latin American startups: Pandemic forced startups to do everything possible to extend their runway. As a result, they pivoted their business models to digital, addressing drastic changes in consumer behavior:

1. USD 85 bn e-comm market in Latin America is growing rapidly, with projections of it reaching USD 116 bn in 2023.

2. Latin America has close to 450 mn mobile internet subscriptions, almost 100% penetration amongst adults. Brazil already has more digital accounts than inhabitants.

3. Top e-commerce Latin American websites in terms of traffic shares include Mercado Livre (22% share), OLX (8%), Amazon (6%), Magalu (5%). Shopee is not behind.

4. Top aggregators dropping cash in this region include Merama, Quinio, Valoreo.

5. Latin American cities Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico are poised to become the countries with the highest e-comm growth in 2022.

A quick look at the start-ups that caught our attention in this budding economy:

🌱 Average human eats only 200 out of 300,000+ plant varieties that exist (Whaaa!). Notco offers plant-based foods by using AI algorithm that learns how to combine an infinite combination of plants to replicate the flavor & texture of animal products.

• They use ingredients like sweet pineapple, tangy cabbage and wholesome seeds to replicate animal-based foods.

• .. and are partnering with big-wigs like Kraft Heinz to develop AI solutions in this space.

• PS: Is Plant-based foods market still hot?

🥾 Yuool, an eco-friendly footwear brand makes shoes using merino wool and overcame the challenge of selling high-cost product in Brazil by eliminating intermediaries in the production chain and reducing prices from BRL 800 to BRL 450. The Brand has now gone international.

👨‍👩‍👧 Founded in 2018, Facily is the first social commerce platform in Latin America. It aims to provide customers with high-quality goods at lesser prices by leveraging community groups in multi-category products. The company is now valued at almost USD 1 bn and ranks as one of the fastest-growing shopping apps, worldwide.

🎁 11-year-old Bigbox is a gifting platform for experiences around six thematic categories: Gastronomy, Being Well, Stays, Entertainment, Adventure and Mix. During the pandemic, they accelerated digital transformation and created more than 500 experiences to be enjoyed at home like delivery options, language courses, music, programming, spa packs at home. In 2021, they sold 500K experiences!

🗞️ Global Updates

• With a focus on Reels, Instagram decided to close down its IGTV.

• Meta has banned Russian state media from running ads anywhere in the world.

• Google has just released an improved and easier alternative for their existing Google Click ID-based offline conversion tracking:

• Amazon is suing two companies that allegedly provide fake reviews. It’s not the first time Amazon gave a whip!

• ByteDance has been transforming into an entertainment company: It bought web novel apps Fizzo and Mytopia, comic app Yizhikan, movie ticketing platform Leyinghui and has now entered Japan’s comic scene with its comic app Fizzotoon.

📊 Graph-iti Of The Day

You Say Brazil, I say Football!

How can we end this newsletter without a mention of football? Check out what brands is Neymar endorsing. The crypto world is engaging with Brazilian Football in multiple ways. Lastly, here’s a take on marketing and football clubs.

That’s all for today!

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That’s all for today! We hope you enjoyed this mid-week treat. If you liked it, give us a ❤️ below! Also, if there is any specific country you want us to cover next week, do let us know in the comments section.