Caribbean Consumers Buck the Trend
March 2009 | Mario Rubio, Mexico City
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Consumer Goods & Services
Latin American Consumers React to the Crisis: PART 1 – BrazilFebruary 2009 | Mario Rubio
Central America: Toward a New Sales and Distribution SystemApril 2008 | Daniela Rubio
Latin consumers find their niche: why the region’s affluent want something newDecember 2007 | Author: John Price Latin America is half way through its 5th successive year of expansion, a boom that has lifted dollar-measured regional GDP by 14.8% per year since it bottomed out in 2002. By the end of 2007, the region will be twice as wealthy as it was only five years ago. The surge in purchasing power has caught both economists and marketers off-guard, with most multinationals only now beginning to reinforce their marketing budgets for the region. Latin consumers find their nicheDecember 2007 | Author: John Price Latin America is half way through its 5th successive year of expansion, a boom that has lifted dollar-measured regional GDP by 14.8% per year since it bottomed out in 2002. By the end of 2007, the region will be twice as wealthy as it was only five years ago. The surge in purchasing power has caught both economists and marketers off-guard, with most multinationals only now beginning to reinforce their marketing budgets for the region. Food Retail Giants Refocus on Latin AmericaNovember 2007 | Daniela Rubio
Navigating Latin American Distribution ChannelsAugust 2007 | Evette Treewater,John Price
The Mexican Pharmaceutical Market: A Stronghold for FDIJuly 2007 | Silvia Nuria Chavez Soto
Evolution of Urinary Catheter Systems in Mexico: Latex vs SiliconeJuly 2007 | Olga Cecilia Canseco
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The worldwide financial crisis has taken the world by surprise. Certainly Latin American leaders and most companies in the region had little or no time to prepare for such an event, and are having difficulties adjusting plans in wake of the changes the crisis has brought. However, there is still much to be done as the effects of the crisis that began in the US and Europe slowly ease into the everyday lives of Latin American consumers.
The fast-changing market realities of Central America, spurred by the implementation of the DR-CAFTA free trade agreement with the United States, are providing a competitive advantage to new companies that can start planning their sales and distribution approaches from the beginning, and poses challenges to the established players that still need to re-organize their strategies to match the changing scenario.
Global retailers like Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Casino established footprints in Latin America during the 1990s, but the economic downturn following 2001 shifted their strategic focus to other emerging markets. While they were preoccupied with Asian entries, Latin America became economically stable, experienced a rise in disposable incomes and discovered credit.
Developing a profitable go-to-market strategy in Latin America is no easy task given the multitude of consumer sales channels at work. In urban areas, the arrival of modern retailers in the form of global supermarket, hypermarket and club stores has shaken up traditional channels made up of owner-operated independent retailers built upon inefficient layers of intermediaries. B2C e-commerce has certainly changed the way Latin Americans buy travel services and read newspapers; however, marketers would be mistaken to abandon independent and informal channels of retail that still represent more than three-quarters of Latin American retail for fast moving consumer goods. Instead, successful marketers must master multiple channels, even at the risk of cannibalizing their own sales in a single channel.
AmericForeign direct investment (FDI) in the Mexican pharmaceutical industry increased over 200% from 1999 to 2006, reaching US$346 million. The Mexican pharmaceutical market is Latin America’s largest, growing at 12% per year and a good entry point into the region. The industry represents 1% of Mexico’s GDP and 37% of Latin America’s pharmaceutical sales, with Mexican exports reaching over US$1 billion in 2006.
While still small by Indian standards, outsourcing to Mexico is gaining momentum and the country is poised to become a major player in the global BPO market.