The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2015–
Mercado Libre built its own logistics network to fix shipping in Latin America
Facing broken, costly couriers, Mercado Libre invested in its own fulfillment, planes and vans — now about half its deliveries arrive same or next day.
Mercado Libre
the move
In much of Latin America, shipping a parcel was slow, expensive and unpredictable, which capped how far a marketplace could grow. Mercado Libre's answer was not to improve the couriers but to stop depending on them.
It built Mercado Envíos, an integrated logistics arm with its own sorting and fulfillment centers, a growing ground fleet in Brazil, Mexico and Chile, and dedicated aircraft flying night routes. Free shipping above an order value is subsidised to pull buyers into the ecosystem, and the platform's volume gives it the density to make that cheap for sellers.
By 2024 Mercado Envíos handled 1.8 billion items and claimed 49% of deliveries were completed the same or next day, with same-or-next-day shipments up 21% year on year. The company is spending heavily in Brazil and Mexico, most of it on logistics, to defend that speed against Chinese rivals.
why it works
- Owned fulfillment means delivery times no longer depend on a third party.
- The volume of a marketplace funds the density a network needs.
- Subsidised free shipping turns a cost into a growth lever.
- Fast delivery is a defensible moat against cheaper foreign sellers.
what transfers
If the external market will not give you the speed your product needs, the lever that unlocks growth can be building the enabling asset yourself.
what came after
Mercado Libre became Latin America's logistics leader, handling 1.8 billion items a year and posting a 38% revenue rise to $21 billion in 2024. A Mexican levy on courier imports from non-free-trade countries gave its home-built network a further edge over Temu and Shein.
references
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.