Driven by quarantine, requests in Brazilian e-commerce grow

Although the pandemic of the new coronavirus has affected the most diverse companies and segments, the e-commerce sector is one of the few that are saved in the midst of the crisis. According to a survey by Buy & Trust, an app that authenticates security for web purchases, the number of online orders during the month of May grew 132.8%, compared to the same period a year earlier. The survey showed that, between May 1 and May 24 of this year, the number of orders placed over the internet in the country totaled 23.8 million, totaling an approximate turnover of R$ 9.4 billion - representing an increase of 126.9% in the total collected from national e-commerce sales compared to the same period of 2019. However, if the total volume of purchases showed a great improvement, the amount spent on each purchase decreased. In May, the average purchase ticket had a slight decrease of 2.6% compared to the same month last year. The report points out that, on average, the amount spent was around R$ 393.40. The Compre & Trust study considers real-time sales factual data received from about 90% of brazilian e-commerce consumer goods retailing - with the exception of the Free Market. Stores such as Magazine Luiza, Casas Bahia, Pontofrio, Extra and hundreds of other retailers are part of the balance sheet. The platform receives detailed data for all orders and products purchased directly from store sales systems. In the report, there are still data on the categories that showed the highest growth in applications. Gift cards top the list with a 1,041% increase in sales in May. Gift Card - in literal translation, gift card - is a prepaid card that can be used to pay for products and services that accept this method of payment. In the category, both cards that are worth a certain amount of cash and access cards for digital services, such as a Netflix subscription card, for example, are included. Another product segment that showed considerable growth during the pandemic was food and beverage. The positive variation in orders for this category was 339%. The analysis also includes broader data, considering a longer period. In a 90-day interval, from February 24 to May 24, it is still possible to identify a considerable increase in the volume of orders and in e-commerce billing, although the advance is a little more timid than that recorded in May. During these three months, Compre & Confie's survey accounted for 68.9 million online orders - up 82.1% from the same period in 2019 - and 71% higher revenues to $27.3 billion. It is worth saying that on February 24, the date on which the sample begins, Brazil still had no confirmed case of coronavirus. The first confirmed case of the disease in the country was officially reported on February 26. The comparison allows us to conclude that isolation was key to the sharpest growth in May. The first criteria for isolation and quarantine to cope with the epidemic were regulated by the Ministry of Health only on March 13.