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Our take: For Latin American retail and ecommerce professionals, this is a moment to stress-test supply chains, tighten communication with US partners, and monitor bilateral developments closely. Brazil and Mexico may appear relatively insulated in this round, but exposure to global inflation, shifting investor confidence, and slower trade flows will continue to challenge growth.

The boom times for ecommerce and retail have largely passed. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be harder [for retailers] to identify pockets of growth and opportunity. But, the good news is that it鈥檚 not going to be that roller coaster of demand fluctuations that has been challenging for retailers to navigate over the last couple of years,鈥� our analyst Blake Droesch said.

The challenge: Chocolate makers are feeling the squeeze as cocoa powder prices have jumped nearly 16% YoY due to a global shortage, per Bloomberg. Our take: Small price increases add up鈥攅specially in an environment where consumers are still scarred by the coronavirus-era wave of inflation. Today鈥檚 shoppers are hyperaware of price hikes and increasingly willing to switch brands, delay purchases, or trade down. That puts added pressure on retailers and manufacturers to either justify price increases through quality and innovation鈥攐r find new ways to absorb rising costs without compromising brand trust.

Mercado Libre is bullish about growth opportunities: The ecommerce giant is making massive investments to extend its dominance of the Latin American market.

As the region鈥檚 No. 1 retail ecommerce player by total sales dollars, Mercado Libre has the competitive edge in each of the 18 Latin American markets it operates in.

Three of Latin America鈥檚 most prominent retail and ecommerce players were well represented in the ranking, according to our estimates. These included regional heavyweights Mercado Libre and Falabella, as well as local ones like Walmart de 惭茅虫颈肠辞 (Walmex). For more on our analysis of retail media ad revenues in Latin America, please refer to our forecasting methodology at the end of this report.

It also aims to replicate its model in Mexico where it offers a range of options such as telecom, financial services, and healthcare. The big takeaway: Walmart is making long-term bets that should pay off whether the economy heads south and consumers look for value, or if conditions improve and shoppers focus on convenience. Go further: Read our Retail Media Ad Spending Forecast H1 2023 report.

Mexico will have the highest percentage of mobile video viewers, at 89.2%, followed by Brazil (84.5%) and Argentina (81.0%). Latin America has a huge appetite for foreign-language content. Global streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney+, among others, have made access to foreign-language content easier than ever before.

Mexico will be the only country where YouTube will trail Facebook beyond 2026. Mexico is YouTube鈥檚 third-most-penetrated market among internet users worldwide. The country was YouTube鈥檚 most penetrated market from 2016 to 2020, before falling to third place in 2021.

We do see in terms of the digital space, that the region continues to remain the fastest growing e-commerce market worldwide. This was a trend that happened for the first time in 2020 where Latin America first held that title as fastest growing e-commerce market, and now we've seen it for 2022, 23, 24, and 2025, it's still going to lead the world in commerce growth.

In-store retail media has long been a mysterious black box for marketers鈥攈ard to measure and optimize. But thanks to first-party shopper data and AI-driven measurement tools, that鈥檚 changing. Marketers can now pinpoint how shoppers engage with in-store campaigns and tie those interactions directly to sales.