eCommerce in Brazil has gone from an $8 billion market in 2010 to a nearly $20 billion market today.  As the market has grown, eCommerce team sizes have expanded and retailers’ priorities have shifted. We address these issues in the second of our three-part series on retail eCommerce in Brazil. The three reports summarize the findings of a survey we fielded of over 300 online retailers in Brazil together with partner e-Commerce Brasil.

In our most recent report entitled Retail eCommerce In Brazil: Team Headcount, Priorities And Challenges, we find that:

Operations has the highest headcount while analytics and customer experience lag far behind. Our survey shows that the average eCommerce team in Brazil has 24 members, with half of those being part of the operations team. Customer service, IT and marketing fall further down the list. eCommerce teams include just two people in usability/customer experience and just one in analytics.

Hiring qualified talent remains many online retailers’ largest hurdle. When asked about challenges, retailers cited hiring as one of their biggest issues over the next 12 months. Not surprisingly, the two areas of low headcount cited above – customer experience and analytics – are two of the most challenging positions to hire for in other markets, as well. The other top challenge cited by Brazilian retailers was managing fulfillment costs and expectations – not surprising given Brazilian shoppers’ expectations of free, quick delivery in major metropolitan areas. 

Marketing, mobile and site design top the list of priorities. When it comes to priorities, the highest percentage of retailers ranked marketing as their top investment area over the next year. We explored this theme in our first report on key metrics in Brazil’s eCommerce market: In the report, we discussed Brazilian retailers’ heavy focus on customer acquisition in contrast to their more muted investments in customer retention initiatives. Mobile is also a top area of investment – our survey shows 7% of eCommerce sales are driven by smartphones in Brazil – with site design coming in as the third highest priority.

We invite clients to read the report for more detailed information on the areas above, including responses by retailer type and size. Coming up next will be our third and final report on the leading marketing tactics and site features embraced by online retailers in Brazil.