{"id":16628,"date":"2022-11-02T17:31:46","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T21:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/?post_type=hck-submission&p=16628"},"modified":"2022-11-02T17:58:45","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T21:58:45","slug":"mercado-libre-the-giant-marketplace-takes-care-of-all-your-logistics-and-financial-needs","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/mercado-libre-the-giant-marketplace-takes-care-of-all-your-logistics-and-financial-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercado Libre \u2013 the giant marketplace takes care of all your logistics and financial needs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Nowadays, Mercado Libre is the leading e-commerce and fintech platform in Latin America, it has reached and connected more than 130 million unique active users in its entire ecosystem. The platform has been able to achieve these impressive results by delivering a suite of technology solutions, both digitally and offline, across the whole value chain of commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercado Libre offers users of its platform six different digital payments and e-commerce solutions:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Mercado Libre (marketplace)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It represents the core of the business, being the largest marketplace in Latin America, it allows users to buy and sell a variety of goods online. This platform enables members to \u201csearch and match\u201d, it is designed to allow buyers to view the options that different sellers are offering and select the products that match their preferences. In this case, the seller group will take the match unless it decides to reject it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The division also collects data from users of the platform and the transactions between them which can also be exploited to generate advertising opportunities and increase returns.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Mercado env\u00edos (logistics solutions)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This powerful solution allows users of the platform to connect among different physical locations. The marketplace arm leverages this tool to eliminate friction between buyers and sellers, by using a mixture of first and third-party logistics providers with solutions including drop-shipping, fulfillment, cross-docking and flex. Because of Mercado Libre\u2019s scale, combined with sophisticated technology and unique warehousing facilities, shipping costs can be decreased, which translates in more value for the end users of the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Mercado cr\u00e9dito (credits)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this tool users can get access to loans at favorable rates. The platform\u2019s machine learning capabilities determine the scoring rate of each user, which creates opportunities for merchants and consumers to expand their business and close any transaction they are interested in. Users can use the credit to buy either in Mercado Libre\u2019s marketplace or through the wallet in a physical store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This solution tries to promote inclusion by solving the regional problem of lack of access to credit. For people in certain socioeconomic sectors, it is difficult to build a business as they do not have proper credit score to receive loans from traditional institutions. For this reason, Mercado Libre acts as their underwriter creating a positive flywheel, as more small businesses now can sell on their marketplace and bring more product options to consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercado shops (SaaS)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This division allows users to create their own online store and get access to Mercado Libre\u2019s powerful ecosystem, getting exposed to increased traffic and facilitating payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercado pago (Fintech services)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fintech arm enables members to easily send and receive payments on and offline in a safe way. This solution tries to increase financial inclusion by allowing democratization of payments. This division is also increasing at a fast rate and is allowing the Latin America region to replace cash with a more streamlined way of paying. Payment options include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n