RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – This April, Shopee reached 2 million local sellers in Brazil. The sales platform surpassed names like Magazine Luiza and Americanas, with 160,000 and 122,000 “sellers” in the country, respectively.
The category resembles the relationship between store owners who pay rent to the mall, where Shopee receives a commission from the sales made. In an interview with Folha de S. Paulo, Felipe Piringer, the company’s director of marketing and strategy in the country, says that 87% of sales come from sellers, where Shopee’s operation in Brazil “is not a translation of a foreign site”.
Recently the Federal Government has shown interest in hindering imports made by Shopee, Shein, and Mercado Livre through a Provisional Measure (MP). The intention is to charge interest directly on the platforms, during the purchase, and not only at the IRS.
For Piringer, however, even so, the impact of the MP would be reduced on the Brazilian operation since only 13% of sales come from imported products, and all are formalized and have an invoice.
Even with the lawsuit, Shopee should continue investing in Brazil. According to analysts, the expectation is that the company will inject R$7 billion (US$1.5 billion) into the domestic market by 2022.