MercadoLibre to launch its own delivery service in Mexico

Contxto – Nothing is better than a good old fashioned comeback. With the last-mile delivery industry making so much noise, MercadoLibre couldn’t ignore the temptation to hop on the bandwagon for too long.

As soon as we thought the market had already too many participants. . .

Seems like the legendary Argentine company plans to expand its own last-mile delivery in Mexico, in order to compete and get some of that sweet market share.

More than just a marketplace

The company began this service in Argentina last November under the name Mercado Envíos Flex. Although this was already a reality down south, the company plans to launch this new service in Mexico next year. 

Simple and straight forward, the platform will connect “hombres moto” or independent deliverers with customers that need to purchase products from different businesses. Home delivery adds an extra convenience for many.  

What’s not quite clear, though, is if these drivers will be delivering purchases between people over the MercadoLibre marketplace. This would be certainly interesting to see.

Time optimization

David Díaz, Manager of Mass Consumption from MercadoLibre, said that the details will be published next year, which promises to deliver products under 24 hours. Reducing delivery time is one of MercadoLibre’s current objectives.

This year, it launched a new portal called “Supermercado” allowing users to receive groceries on a monthly or biweekly basis.

Average delivery time ranges from 24 to 48 hours. Meanwhile, MercadoLibre already has some strategic partnerships with DHL, FedEx and UPS, according to Díaz.

MercadoLibre’s delivery services arriving to Mexico will certainly encounter some competition. Some of the most famous delivery startups in Mexico include Rappi, Domicilios.com, iVoy, Uber Eats, Cornershop, and soon, Mensajeros Urbanos.

-VC