The secret of Asian websites to conquer the Brazilian consumer

The unsuspecting internet user is startled by the polluted look, full of pop-ups that jump on the screen, promising prices between 50% and 80% lower or that insistently ask for your e-mail to register. There are also a multitude of colorful coupons that guarantee free shipping or a discount on the first purchase. Some expressions also sound weird, like “Hurry soon”, to let you know about the promotion that has time to end.

Despite the initial strangeness, Brazilians have been shopping more and more on foreign sites of Asian origin, such as Shopee, Shein and Aliexpress. A survey by the consultancy NielsenIQ|ebit, in partnership with Bexs Pay, pointed out that the revenue of cross-border (international) sites soared 60% last year and reached R$ 36.2 billion. The amount represents about 17% of online commerce in the country, which earned BRL 218.9 billion in 2021.

Considering only purchases on websites that operate from Brazil, e-commerce totaled R$ 182.7 billion last year.

The survey pointed out that Shopee is the most popular among Brazilian internet users: 58% of them purchased something on the retailer’s website in 2021, against 8% in the previous year. Another leap was that of Shein, which specializes in fashion, which went from 0% to 21% of online consumers last year.

“On these sites, the consumer sees the low price as the main benefit”, says the director of ecommerce at NielsenIQ|Ebit, Marcelo Osanai. “The good performance in Brazil has made these companies invest in [vendedores] and also try to improve their logistics, to deliver in the shortest possible time”, he says.

Today, the average wait is 28 days – but three years ago that period was 42 days, according to Osanai. In March, Alibaba’s Aliexpress contracted a weekly flight from Qatar Airways to operate the Hong Kong-São Paulo route in order to expedite delivery.

Of the 87.7 million online shoppers in Brazil, 68% (more than two out of three) purchased imported products in 2021, according to the NielsenIQ|ebit survey. The most accessed categories were fashion (38%), electronics (36%) and home and decoration (24%). This year, 71% intend to continue buying, especially electronics (48%), fashion and accessories (45%) and computers (35%).

While Shopee and Shein grew, Aliexpress slowed down last year, although its share remains significant – from 52% to 44% of Brazilian internet users who bought on the site in 2021.

“Aliexpress lost ground to other Asian sites, because it didn’t move much in terms of marketing”, says Osanai. The company, however, seems to have learned its lesson: last month, it launched a campaign with influencer Gkay, signed by AlmapBBDO, under the motto “Ali’s farofa”.

Shopee also invested in a national campaign starring the band Barões da Pisadinha, in celebration of Consumer Day, on March 15th.

“The large foreign sites have been investing heavily in marketing actions on social media, especially TikTok, sponsored links and Google ads,” says Osanai.

On the other hand, according to the survey, Americans Amazon, Wish eBay lost the preference of Brazilian Internet users. “But in the case of Amazon who lost space was the American site, possibly for the Brazilian version itself”, says the executive of NielsenIQ|Ebit.

From watches to wigs to vibrators

Low price, faster delivery and strong presence in digital media is not everything. Variety is another buzzword on Asian e-commerce sites. In the Shopee marketplace, for example, it is possible to buy from denim shorts to vibrators, including cases for contact lenses.

On Aliexpress, you can find everything from nail stickers and wigs to watches and cordless drills. At Shein, you can find 80,000 dress options from R$15 and 9,700 pants whose prices start at R$19.

Considered the “Zara of China” –due to the impressive speed of production of new collections and the smooth logistics that makes the products reach more than 150 countries–, Shein (read xi-in) opened a pop-up store ( temporary) in Rio last month, at the Village Mall, conceived by the agency V3A.

“The Shopee and Shein apps were the most downloaded retail apps in Brazil last year,” says retail consultant Alberto Serrentino, partner at Varese Retail. According to software development and market analysis company EmizenTech, each of them had more than 100 million downloads in 2021.

The preference of Brazilians for Asian retailers has already been bothering national competitors. At the end of March, the Federal Revenue Service informed that it is studying an MP (Provisional Measure) to prevent foreign e-commerce companies from selling goods to Brazilians without paying the due taxes.

For Brazilian retailers, it is a “digital street vendor”: Asians would be taking advantage of a piece of legislation that authorizes an individual to send foreign goods to another individual in Brazil without paying taxes, as long as the value of the merchandise is below $50.

In Brazil, the biggest competitors in national online retail are Mercado Livre, Americanas, Magazine Luiza and Via (Casas Bahia and Ponto Frio), in that order.

“Although they work with higher value-added products, especially electronics and home appliances, these sites increasingly increase the mix of the so-called ‘long tail’, products with a lower average ticket and higher turnover, entering into direct competition with Asian sites”, he says. Danniela Eiger, retail analyst at XP. “Foreigners are a risk to be monitored by Brazilians.”

For now, Brazilian marketplaces feel uncomfortable, but not threatened, in the opinion of Iago Souza, an analyst at Genial Investimentos. “Asians would have to work with more expensive products to really become a threat,” he says. “Anyway, the Sea group, owner of Shopee, has already made it clear that Brazil and Mexico are the company’s priorities”.

In Serrentino’s opinion, it is necessary to make the competition isonomic, but not rigid. “It is important to promote this dispute, who wins with this is the consumer”, he says.

Consultant Eugênio Foganholo, from Mixxer Desenvolvimento Empresarial, draws attention to the speed of the Asian phenomenon in Brazil. “Within a year, Shopee and Shein broke out,” he says.​

According to a survey by NielsenIQ|Ebit, 26% of consumers found sites in the past year through referrals from friends. “This gives a very big competitive advantage, it’s word of mouth marketing, which reduces the cost of customer acquisition”, says Foganholo.

The growth of Asian companies, especially Shein, has been gaining ground in the textile industry and retail agenda. For Abvtex (Associação Brasileira do Varejo Têxtil), the concern with international marketplaces is similar to the one that the entity dedicates to informality in the sector – which reaches almost 35% of everything sold.

Edmundo Lima, executive director of the association, says that without the payment of ICMS, PIS and Cofins, these sites reach much more competitive prices in comparison with national products.

Another point of discomfort is the lack of transparency in labor relations.

While initiatives to monitor supply chains grow in the sector –Abvtex itself has an inspection, audit and certification program–, very little is known about the conditions under which clothes are produced at these sites.

wanted by sheet, Shein did not respond to the interview request. Alibaba, the parent company of Aliexpress, is on a quiet period ahead of the release of quarterly results.

Shopee said in a statement that it offers an “easy, safe and fun shopping experience” in Brazil and that “more than 85% of sales are from Brazilian sellers”. According to the company, winning over consumers is a result of its “gamification strategy” (games and rewards in Shopee Coins, which work as cashback) and marketing campaigns with discount coupons and free shipping.