With the advancement of 31%, Mercado Livre reinforces leadership and redefines the game of e-commerce in Brazil

Even with the increasingly fierce competition, Mercado Livre should end 2025 expanding its advantage in Brazilian e-commerce. Projections from UBS BB indicate that the company will increase its participation from 40% to 44% this year, reinforcing a leading role that has lasted more than a decade.

The advance occurs in a context of strong expansion of the sector: the Brazilian e-commerce should move about R$ 414 billion in 2025, a growth of 18%, representing 14.2% of total retail. Within this scenario, the performance of the Argentine marketplace stands out. The bank estimates that the volume traded on the platform suba from R$ 140 billion to R$ 183 billion, a rise of 31%.

The consistent growth trajectory since 2021 has allowed the company to sustain a competitive advantage based on logistics scale, operational efficiency and integration of financial services. At the same time, Mercado Livre has been expanding its network of distribution centers and investing in technology to accelerate deliveries, a differential that has hindered the advancement of competitors.“The consumer today accepts to exchange speed for price, and this pressures competitors to rethink their” strategies, he says Rebecca Fischer, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of Divibank.

Among competitors, Shopee remains the most dynamic name. The Asian platform should jump from 15% to 17% of national market share, consolidating itself as the second largest player in the country. The growth is significant: at the beginning of the pandemic, the company accounted for only 2% of online sales.

In the third position, the dispute between Amazon and Magazine Luiza remains balanced, with estimated holdings of 10% and 11%, respectively. The American giant has strengthened its infrastructure in Brazil, while the Brazilian retailer bets on the digitization of physical retail and new market place formats.

The advance of the Free Market shows that e-commerce in Brazil is heading towards a phase of concentrated consolidation, in which few large groups dominate the infrastructure and the relationship with the final consumer. Competition remains intense, but the pace of growth of the Argentine company indicates that, at least for now, the throne of digital retail remains firmly in the hands of Meli.