--- description: Like other online sellers, Mecardo Libre has seen sales soar during COVID-19. Its CEO talked to TIME about the future of e-retail. title: Mercado Libre CEO Marcos Galperin Sees an E-Commerce Revolution Coming image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde4445c5aa310af6/698a135386f68e8aac6ef50f/galerpin-wef-2020.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 22, 2020 # Mercado Libre CEO Marcos Galperin Sees an E-Commerce Revolution Coming by [Ciara Nugent](/author/ciara-nugent/) ## Ciara Nugent Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Marco Galperin, CEO of Mercado Libre. Marco Galperin, CEO of Mercado Libre.Sarah Pabst—Bloomberg/Getty Images _When Marcos Galperin founded_ [_Mercado Libre_](https://www.mercadolibre.com.ar/ "undefined") _in 1999, less than 3% of the population of Latin America was online. But the Argentine’s_ [_e-commerce_](https://time.com/tag/e-commerce/ "undefined") _platform flourished as the region became more connected, and now claims to be the market leader in all its major economies. Like other online sellers, it has thrived during the_ [_coronavirus pandemic_](https://time.com/5800901/coronavirus-map/ "undefined")_, doubling sales in the second quarter year on year. Galperin spoke to TIME about the future of e-retail and the economic potential of the Americas._ **What’s different about doing e-commerce in Latin America compared with Europe or the U.S.?** We had to create everything from scratch. The logistics for e-commerce and the infrastructure for digital payments—we had to create it all. Some of our international competitors, like [eBay](https://time.com/4017026/ebay-20th-anniversary-weirdest-sales/ "undefined") and [Amazon](https://time.com/5870826/amazon-coronavirus-jeff-bezos-congress/ "undefined"), grew \[much faster than us\] from the very beginning. Funnily enough, we have started to grow at much faster rates now on our 21st anniversary. It’s an overnight success story that took over two decades. **Did you know Mercado Libre would be successful from the start?** When we launched, I did a survey with 20 Latin American classmates at Stanford and asked them if they thought the model was going to work in Latin America: 100% of them said no, that Latin Americans would never buy something they hadn’t seen or touched from \[someone\] they didn’t know. It turned out it worked. **In 2019, e-commerce accounted for roughly 4% of retail sales in Latin America, compared with 11% in the U.S. How has the pandemic changed things?** I believe that that figure is going to be closer to 10% this year. The pandemic moved us forward between three and five years. **Mercado Libre’s market capitalization topped $60 billion this summer, making it one of Latin America’s most valuable companies. Does that success feel strange while the world is suffering?** If it was us selling, maybe it would. But we are literally saving hundreds of thousands of sellers from having to file bankruptcy. [Latin American governments](https://time.com/5662653/democracy-history-latin-america/ "undefined") have been less able to provide people with the money to sustain long lockdowns than governments in Europe or the U.S. provided. But millions of small- and medium-size businesses are able to continue operating safely and make a living. So, on the contrary, we are becoming an essential service. **The pandemic is likely to make inequality in Latin America even worse than it already is. Is that bad for business?** For sure. Long term, we want a prosperous society with as many people being well-off as possible. I believe equality per se is not a value. We want the starting line to be as close to equal as possible. But that’s a starting line. If some people want to work harder or they have a better idea, and they make more, what’s the problem with that? It’s a bit like sports. The best team wins and becomes champion, and the worst team loses. And that’s, I think, more interesting for society in general. **The pandemic has brought a lot of negative changes. Do you predict any positive changes?** I think we’re going to start addressing [climate change](https://time.com/5864692/climate-change-defining-moment/ "undefined") in a much more aggressive way. Businesses need to take the lead. For example, having large companies like us put in orders for electric vehicles helps a lot to jump-start the infrastructure we need. **What’s your next big bet?** We believe cash will disappear in[ Latin America](https://time.com/5844660/coronavirus-pandemic-epicenter-latin-america/ "undefined"). Partly because QR payments and digital payments are a better experience. But also, because they use cash for everything, 50% of Latin Americans have no history of their financial transactions and therefore no access to credit. We have started to create a digital financial history for them. That means we can provide loans to people that have never had access to loans. **I’ve read you enjoy chess. Has that helped you as a businessman?** I used to be a fan of chess. Now I lose to my son. So I’m not a fan anymore. **Write to** Ciara Nugent at [ciara.nugent@time.com](mailto:ciara.nugent@time.com?subject=%28READER%20FEEDBACK%29%20Mercado%20Libre%20CEO%20Marcos%20Galperin%20Sees%20an%20E-Commerce%20Revolution%20Coming&body=https%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2Fcollection-post%2F5900749%2Fmercado-libre-ceo-marcos-galperin-sees-an-e-commerce-revolution-coming%2F "undefined"). 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