Amazon has launched an in-house fulfilment and delivery network in Brazil. Till now Amazon in Brazil has predominantly sold only books and acted as a marketplace for third parties selling electronic and household items. 

Fulfilling products across 11 categories

From Tuesday 22 January 2019, the business has stocked and fulfilled products itself. Amazon is offering products across 11 categories, from over 800 suppliers. Its online sales platform now stocks over 320,000 products, of which 200,000 are books. Amazon plans to expand this offering.

Online channel becoming increasingly competitive in Brazil

Amazon expanding its ecommerce offering will be a cause of concern for Brazil’s current ecommerce market leader MercadoLibre, as well as Carrefour and Casino. Our recent research piece on online in Latin America highlights the rising demand for ecommerce in the region, as internet penetration and smartphone adoption rates are both rapidly growing.

Although these are early stages for Amazon developing its ecommerce offer in Brazil, the business could apply learnings from its operations in Mexico, where the channel has been a big success. In January 2019 Amazon Mexico extended its online offer to include grocery. If this proves a success, Amazon could replicate this in Brazil in the future.

Carrefour’s latest results demonstrate increased consumer interest in the online channel

Carrefour Brazil announced a very strong ecommerce performance in its preliminary Q4 results. It said its gross merchandise volume (GMV) heavily outperformed the industry in Q4, with total sales up by 110%.

Carrefour’s own sales for Q4 were up 83% year-on-year (YoY). This was attributed to a strong Black Friday event and very strong sales in December. Marketplace sales for Q4 represented just 19% of this, which illustrates how Amazon could continue to expand on fulfilling products itself.

We have published a new piece of research which explores the five key trends set to shape the Latin American grocery market in 2019 and beyond. One of these trends centres on growth in the online channel. Subscribers can find the research here.

In its preliminary results announced on 21 January 2019, Carrefour Brazil has reported a 10.2% sales growth for Q4. This is the retailer’s fourth consecutive quarter of sales growth.

First double-digit sales growth in since Q4 2016

Carrefour Brazil has reported consolidated gross sales of BRL56.3bn (US$15bn) in 2018. Fourth quarter sales represent BRL15.8bn (US$4.2bn). This is a 10.2% increase when compared to Q4 2017 and is the first double-digit sales growth since Q4 2016.

Expanding its store portfolio has accounted for 4.3% of this sales growth, most of which has been generated from openings under its Atacadão banner.

Strong like-for-like sales for both Atacadão and Carrefour banners

Sales for both the Atacadão and Carrefour banners accelerated consistently (on a like-for-like (LFL) basis) every quarter in 2018.

Atacadão’s LFL sales increased by 7.4% in Q4 and 4.8% for 2018 (vs 3.6% in 2017). This is the highest quarterly increase reported since Q1 2017. Full year 2018 sales for Atacadão were up by 10.2%, with 5.6% of this coming from expansion.

Carrefour LFL sales (ex-petrol) increased by 3.5% in Q4 and 2.1% for 2018 (vs. 0.7% in 2017). Carrefour attributed this sales growth to successful commercial initiatives in its hypermarkets, improved proximity formats (where convenience saw double-digit growth) and stronger ecommerce performance.

Expanding its store network

Early in 2018 Carrefour Brazil announced plans to increase the number of Atacadão openings from  between 10 and 12 stores to 20. Carrefour opened a total of 26 stores throughout 2018. 20 of these were under the Atacadão banner, in line with its expectations. Most openings were in cities where Atacadão previously had no store presence.

As a result of these openings, Carrefour Brazil’s total selling space increased by 6.3%, with Atacadão’s sales area increasing by 13.6%. In terms of sales volumes, Carrefour said that Atacadão gained a market share of 80bps in 2018.

Carrefour has announced plans to continue its aggressive expansion plan of the Atacadão banner in 2019. It will invest BRL1.8bn (US$465m) and plans to open another 20 stores.

We have published a new piece of research which explores the five key trends set to shape the Latin American grocery market in 2019 and beyond. This covers the growth of the atacarejo (cash and carry) format, including Carrefour’s Atacadão banner. This research can be found here.

Brazilian-based, Casino-owned GPA has seen an encouraging double-digit sales growth in its fourth quarter, following heavy investment in its store portfolio. 

A strong December and increased same-stores sales contribute to overall performance

GPA announced a 12.1% year-on-year increase in net sales revenue for its food division in Q4. This strong sales performance follows an equally strong set of results in Q3 (12.4% annual growth). The business saw a 6.9% growth in same-store sales compared to the same period last year.

Sales were particularly strong during December where total sales increased by 15.5% and same-store sales increased by 9.7%.

Strengthening its multi-format portfolio is playing a key role in driving sales growth

In December 2017 year GPA announced plans to invest BRL1.8bn (US$465m) into its store portfolio. Throughout 2018 we saw significant development across multiple formats.   

In its Q3 results GPA said the 19 hypermarkets it converted to the Assaí cash and carry banner significantly contributed to its overall sales growth. Sales for the Assaí banner grew by 26% at an organic level in Q3 and GPA announced Assaí sales represent almost half of GPA’s total sales. A further 10 stores in this format are currently under construction and are expected to open in the first quarter of 2019.

During 2018 GPA also opened 20 of its new premium concept stores under its Pão de Açúcar banner. The stores feature a new layout with a stronger emphasis on health foods and sustainable products.

We have published a new piece of research which explores the five key trends set to shape the Latin American grocery market in 2019 and beyond. This covers the growth of the atacarejo (cash and carry) format, including GPA’s Assaí format. It also delves into innovations in the premium sector, including a view of GPA’s latest concept stores under its its Pão de Açúcar banner. This research can be found here.