Mexico’s Steps Toward the Digital Economy
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Mexico’s Steps Toward the Digital Economy

Photo by:   Algernai Hayes, Unsplash
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Sofía Hanna By Sofía Hanna | Journalist and Industry Analyst - Wed, 01/13/2021 - 18:31

Digitalizing money has been one of the big changes and priorities of 2020 and now 2021. At first, this became a priority to limit the use of cash, given the sanitary risks. However, digital transactions are one of the main factors toward a united economy where no one is left behind. Even though the process has already been identified as a priority, there are opportunities to potentiate the digital economy.

For this transition to occur, the government, entrepreneurs and educational institutions must make a joint effort. So far, in Mexico, there have been big steps toward a digital economy like the Fintech Law, which hints at what Mexico could be capable of managing in the long run, as mentioned in El Economista.

Not only is a digital economy a benefit to the government, but it also benefits customers that are now discovering the advantages of buying online. "Customers already see the advantages of e-commerce. Companies have implemented online stores and methods to receive electronic payments. This first stage is excellent but now it is up to companies to automate or digitize more internal processes," Jaime Márquez, Director of New Businesses at STP, told El Economista.

A Mexican Online Sales Association (AMVO) report states that Mexican consumers were motivated to turn to online shopping to avoid contagion but now they actually see the comfort in doing so, reported El Economista. These shopping habits are here to stay. In an Informador article, it is mentioned the number of e-commerce transactions are expected to double in the next three years. "We expect it to contribute 7 percent of total retail sales in 2024. Today we are at 6.3 percent," said Luis Gradilla, Consumer Intelligence Market Leader at Nielsen México, in an el Informador article. So far, the main companies that have seized the e-commerce opportunity are Mercado Libre, with a 49 percent penetration, Amazon with 22 percent, Walmart Online with 12 percent, Coppel with 10 percent and Liverpool at 7 percent, according to a previous MBN article.

However, for the digital economy to advance further, barriers must be taken down. Jorge Ortiz, one of the promoters of the Fintech Law, named some of the factors that could drive this transformation, like boosting more fintech initiatives and having enterprises and organizations use CoDi, which, as previously mentioned by MBN, is an extension to SPEI that uses NFC technology to scan codes through a mobile device to make a payment quickly and efficiently with no need of commissions, initial deposits or minimum balances.

"The challenge in 2021 in terms of e-commerce is very high due to the strong growth reported in 2020, thanks to accelerated development of the omnichannel strategy, which was carried out at full speed from March to June," Marcela Muñoz, Deputy Director of Analysis at Vector, told Informador.

Photo by:   Algernai Hayes, Unsplash

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