The Chamber of Digital Economy of Uruguay (CEDU) released new data on trends in digital consumption of Uruguayans, based on two surveys conducted by the consulting firm Cifra, one to the adult population of Uruguay and another to Uruguayan Internet users.
In the first of these surveys, it is highlighted that 53% of the adult population in Uruguay buys products and services online. 23% "ever" bought online, 15% did so "up to once a year", 12% "more than once a month" and 3% "once a month".
This first survey indicates that 21% of Uruguayan adults make the decision to buy online because they consider it a "more practical, fast and comfortable" method, while 15% consider that there are "better prices" on the web, 8% "because there is more variety" and 6% "to avoid going to the store".
When asked where they made their last online purchase, a large majority said they chose Marketplace (57%) and local online stores (25%), showing a growth compared to the previous year (53% and 20%). While 10% chose foreign marketplaces and 4% chose online stores in other countries.
Regarding their shopping habits since the pandemic began, 71% of the adult population felt that they were unchanged by this particular situation, 12% said they had made more online purchases of goods and 11% said they had ordered more deliveries. This shows that, while there was an increase due to COVID-19, digital commerce has become more established in recent years.
As for the means of payment chosen by Uruguayans, online transactions in Uruguay have taken center stage, with online payments (non-face-to-face) being the one chosen by the majority, as 63% said they use this method. The use of credit cards is the most common with 45%, followed by debit cards with 13%, bank transfers with 3% and prepaid cards with 2%.
21% preferred to pay in collection networks, 10% chose cash on delivery and 7% decided to use their card (credit, debit or prepaid) in person.
In relation to web purchases made abroad, 58% paid with a credit card and 30% paid with a debit card, far exceeding the remaining methods.
Meanwhile, the survey of Uruguayan Internet users shows that 78% of online shoppers said they were "satisfied" and "very satisfied" with the products purchased on Uruguayan sites. In this way, an average of 8.8 was reached on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is "very satisfied".
Of those who bought products and services online in the last 12 months on a Uruguayan site, 39% did it "sometime", 19% "several times a month", 14% bought "once a month" and 13% "once" in that period. While 16% said they "did not buy" on websites in the country.
The health recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19, led Internet users to make more purchases on the web. Thirty-six percent indicated that they already used e-commerce before the pandemic and increased their use of this method, 4% started shopping online for health reasons and 2% because stores were closed.
The report indicates that the pandemic encouraged those who use the Internet in Uruguay to buy "at a distance", with local sites being the most chosen, since 74% of Internet users surveyed said they "did not buy" on foreign sites in the last 12 months, mainly because it is not convenient to buy in dollars due to the increase in its price.
With 40%, clothing, footwear and accessories are the most purchased products through websites in the country, followed by household items (34%), food delivery (30%) and electronics (29%), among others.
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