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Electronic Commerce
Feasibility Study for
ElectroMarket, Inc.
Part 3: Electronic Commerce Potential in Latin America
December 1998
As mentioned earlier, ElectroMarket, which has activities elsewhere in the world, is looking to expand into Latin America. The four countries it is currently considering the most are Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru. To help frame the problem of evaluating electronic commerce potential in these countries, we identified six criteria we thought most revealing, listed below, and examined the countries in regards to each of the criteria.
- Intellectual Property Protection: Strong intellectual property protection affords the development of a legal foundation which electronic commerce needs to grow.
- Telecommunications Infrastructure: Both businesses and consumers need affordable means of connecting to the Internet before they can begin to take advantage of electronic commerce opportuntities. Privatization of national telecommunications companies and other government-sponsored initiatives are spurring the rapid development of this infrastructure.
- Internet Usage: Even in the poorest countries of Latin America, Internet usage is skyrocketing. Here we looked at the number of Internet Service Providers and the growth of alternative options for connecting to the Internet.
- Growth of Computer Equipment and Software Sales: In the business realm, higher sales means greater business-to-business electronic commerce opportunities. In the consumer realm, it means more consumers are getting experience using computers at work and possibly at home, leading to potentially more business-to-consumer opportunities.
- Credit Card Usage: The emerging standard payment scheme for online purchases is credit cards, yet the rate of credit card ownership has not historically been high in Latin America.
- Potential Local Partners: ElectroMarket also asked us to identify potential local partners in each of the four countries. We identified several, including some government-led initiatives, that might be of interest to ElectroMarket.
Please see the related table: Factors Affecting the Likelihood of Electronic Commerce Success.
Other Links in this Project Document
- Project Introduction
- Business Plan Evaluation
- Electronic Commerce Potential in Latin America (this page)
- Conclusion & For More Information
- Table: Factors Affecting Electronic Commerce Success
- Selected Electronic Commerce Links (In the Credits & Links section of this site)
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