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To: Frank E W who wrote (121707)	5/2/1999 11:28:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

Latin Americans driven to e-commerce despite bumps Frank: Add this dell.com and the news below together you get 'let's us get ready to rrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuumble' is what I am saying here,you with me so far?<g> ================================ by Patricia Howlett, IDG News Service\Latin America Bureau April 30, 1999 CORAL GABLES, FLA. (04/30/99) - Latin America will experience phenomenal growth in Internet commerce in spite of the many roadblocks in its path -- access costs, recovering economies and the focus on English among others, according to a recent study by International Data Corporation (IDC) Latin America. Over the next five years IDC anticipates that the region's compound annual growth rate for Internet commerce will be 117 percent, second only to that of Western Europe, with the US$170 million spent online in Latin America in 1998 expected to grow to $8 billion by the year 2003. This growth will be driven by several factors, said Annika Alford, research manager at IDC Latin America at a speech given during an IDC breakfast briefing yesterday in which she talked to reporters about the study results. The first factor is the maturation of Latin American Internet “culture” driven by the increased number of regional and local portals and content providers such as America Online Inc. and StarMedia Network Inc. Latin Americans are becoming increasingly comfortable with the Internet, which will help foster e-commerce in the region, Alford said. The IDC study also showed that existing Web users in the region are relatively impervious to economic setbacks and therefore ready to make purchases immediately. “What you're talking about is a population right now … that is probably the high end within the society in terms of their ability to buy,” she said. In addition, the promise of truly pan-regional markets “is a huge driver for the region,” Alford said. The fact that products marketed locally could potentially reach buyers outside the country is a tremendously motivating factor for merchants. .......................... “It (Latin America) is a market with a tremendous potential," said Paola Prado, vice president of sales and business development of El Sitio, a Latin American portal. Even at a time when people do not have access to computers or often even telephone lines, the growth is already "phenomenal,” he said. “Our site for example, the growth of users coming to El Sitio is 20 percent per month. Those numbers are astronomical by anybody's standards,” said Prado. “When it comes to e-commerce, you need to have a local, very relevant means of communication with your user because if you are in Latin America and you don't speak English you are not going to feel comfortable having an interaction with some merchant who is not going to be able to explain to you clearly what they (his products) are and what is the advantage of buying them,” said Prado.... (Courtesy:IDG)