The Brazilian e-commerce market is expected to register a turnover of USD 3.48 billion (BRL 8.5 billion) at the end of December 2008, up 35 percent from the year-earlier period, when the e-commerce market reached USD 2.58 billion (BRL6.3 billion).

The increase is attributable to the rapidly growing population of online buyers and to the convenience of shopping on the internet. Almost 39 percent of surveyed consumers plan to purchase electronics online this year, spending USD 349 (BRL 850) per purchase, while IT products are to account for 36 percent of total expenditure. The number of online shoppers has increased from 2.6 million in 2003 to 7 million in 2006 and to 9.5 million in 2007. As far as online payment methods are concerned, almost 49.5 percent of Brazil's online shoppers use a credit card for their purchases, as compared to 39 percent who use a banking ticket to buy online and 10 percent who turn to debit or electronic transfer, and payment on delivery.



Data was revealed by the European Travel Commission (ETC).