In Latin America, online markets have experienced sustained growth since the mid-2010s, driven by increased mobile internet access, digital banking, and the development of local logistics solutions.

According to data from the Santiago Chamber of Commerce and the Latin American Internet Association), the region exceeded 100 million digital buyers in 2023, with growth rates higher than the world average.[9]​.

Among the main players are Mercado Libre, pioneer and regional leader in electronic commerce; Falabella.com") and Linio") in Chile and Peru; B2W Digital") and Magazine Luiza") in Brazil; and Rappi and PedidosYa in the on-demand services segment. In addition, specialized vertical marketplaces have emerged, such as real estate, automotive, or home services.

These ecosystems have adopted hybrid models that combine retail commerce (B2C) and professional services (B2B and C2C"), integrating digital payments, financing and last mile logistics.[10]​.

The rise of regional marketplaces has also favored the development of specialized service platforms, such as transportation, delivery or home maintenance, framed in the expansion of the platform economy in the region.

Online marketplaces are information technology companies that act as intermediaries connecting buyers and sellers. Examples of predominant online marketplaces for retail are Amazon, Taobao, Temu, Shein, Shopee and eBay.

In online marketplaces, sellers publish offers for products and services by setting a price and providing information about the characteristics and qualities of the product or service. Potential customers can search") and explore the goods, compare the price and quality, and then purchase the goods directly from the seller. The inventory is in the hands of the sellers, not the company that runs the online marketplace. Online marketplaces are characterized by a low set-up cost for sellers, because they do not have to run a retail store"). model that other market operators such as Flipkart are currently focusing on").[12]​.

For consumers, online marketplaces reduce the cost of search", but insufficient information about the quality of goods and an overloaded supply of goods can make it more difficult for consumers to make purchasing decisions. Consumers' ability to make a purchasing decision is also hampered by the fact that an online marketplace only allows them to examine the quality of a product based on its description, a picture, and customer reviews.

In Latin America, the growth of online markets has been driven by the expansion of mobile internet access and digital payment methods. Platforms such as Mercado Libre, Linio and Falabella.com have positioned themselves as relevant players in the region, adapting their retail models to the logistical and regulatory particularities of each country.

There are marketplaces for online outsourcing of professional services such as information technology services,[13] search engine optimization, marketing, and craft and skilled trade work.[14] Online marketplaces for micro-jobs such as Upwork and Amazon Mechanical Turk allow freelancers to perform tasks that require only a computer and Internet access.[15] According to Amazon, its marketplace for mechanical Turks focuses on "human intelligence tasks" that are difficult to automate computationally. This includes content tagging") and content moderation").[16]

In 2004 Yochai Benkler observed that online platforms, along with free software and wireless networks, allowed households to share idle or underutilized resources.[17]​ As the solidarity economy draws heavily on open source philosophy,[18]​ open source projects dedicated to launching a peer-to-peer marketplace include Cocorico[19]​ and Sharetribe.[20]​ In 2010 CouchSurfing was formed as a for-profit organization, and by 2014 online marketplaces that are considered part of the sharing economy, such as Uber and Airbnb, were organized into the trade association. Peers.org.[21]​ In 2015 Alex Stephany, the founder of the online marketplace JustPark"), defined the sharing economy as the economic value that arises from making underutilized assets available online.[22]​.

A 2014 study of oDesk, one of the first global online marketplaces for freelance contractors, found that outsourcing micro-services increased opportunities for freelancers regardless of their geographic location, but the financial gains for most contractors were limited as experience and expertise did not translate into higher pay.[23]

A general criticism is that the laws and regulations surrounding online marketplaces are quite underdeveloped. Consequently, there is a discrepancy between the responsibility and accountability of the market and third parties. In recent years, online markets and platforms have faced a lot of criticism for their lack of consumer protection.[24]​.

In 1997, Yannis Bakos") studied online markets and came to consider them as a special type of electronic markets. He argued that they reduce economic inefficiencies by lowering the cost of acquiring information about sellers' products.[25] Online market operators are able to adapt their business model thanks to the data they have about platform users. Online market operators have a unique ability to obtain and use personal data and data in their economic decision-making. transactions"), but also social data and location data. Therefore, scholars have even considered markets as a new type of market economy. In 2010 Christian Fuchs&action=edit&redlink=1 "Christian Fuchs (sociologist) (not yet redacted)") argued that online markets operated "information capitalism." The inherent feedback loop allows operators of online marketplaces to increase their effectiveness as economic intermediaries. In 2016 Nick Srnicek argued that online marketplaces give rise to platform capitalism. In 2016 and 2018 respectively, Frank Pasquale and Shoshana Zuboff warned that the collection of data from online market operators gives rise to surveillance capitalism[26]​.

In Latin America, online markets have experienced sustained growth since the mid-2010s, driven by increased mobile internet access, digital banking, and the development of local logistics solutions.

According to data from the Santiago Chamber of Commerce and the Latin American Internet Association), the region exceeded 100 million digital buyers in 2023, with growth rates higher than the world average.[9]​.

Among the main players are Mercado Libre, pioneer and regional leader in electronic commerce; Falabella.com") and Linio") in Chile and Peru; B2W Digital") and Magazine Luiza") in Brazil; and Rappi and PedidosYa in the on-demand services segment. In addition, specialized vertical marketplaces have emerged, such as real estate, automotive, or home services.

These ecosystems have adopted hybrid models that combine retail commerce (B2C) and professional services (B2B and C2C"), integrating digital payments, financing and last mile logistics.[10]​.

The rise of regional marketplaces has also favored the development of specialized service platforms, such as transportation, delivery or home maintenance, framed in the expansion of the platform economy in the region.

Online marketplaces are information technology companies that act as intermediaries connecting buyers and sellers. Examples of predominant online marketplaces for retail are Amazon, Taobao, Temu, Shein, Shopee and eBay.

In online marketplaces, sellers publish offers for products and services by setting a price and providing information about the characteristics and qualities of the product or service. Potential customers can search") and explore the goods, compare the price and quality, and then purchase the goods directly from the seller. The inventory is in the hands of the sellers, not the company that runs the online marketplace. Online marketplaces are characterized by a low set-up cost for sellers, because they do not have to run a retail store"). model that other market operators such as Flipkart are currently focusing on").[12]​.

For consumers, online marketplaces reduce the cost of search", but insufficient information about the quality of goods and an overloaded supply of goods can make it more difficult for consumers to make purchasing decisions. Consumers' ability to make a purchasing decision is also hampered by the fact that an online marketplace only allows them to examine the quality of a product based on its description, a picture, and customer reviews.

In Latin America, the growth of online markets has been driven by the expansion of mobile internet access and digital payment methods. Platforms such as Mercado Libre, Linio and Falabella.com have positioned themselves as relevant players in the region, adapting their retail models to the logistical and regulatory particularities of each country.

There are marketplaces for online outsourcing of professional services such as information technology services,[13] search engine optimization, marketing, and craft and skilled trade work.[14] Online marketplaces for micro-jobs such as Upwork and Amazon Mechanical Turk allow freelancers to perform tasks that require only a computer and Internet access.[15] According to Amazon, its marketplace for mechanical Turks focuses on "human intelligence tasks" that are difficult to automate computationally. This includes content tagging") and content moderation").[16]

In 2004 Yochai Benkler observed that online platforms, along with free software and wireless networks, allowed households to share idle or underutilized resources.[17]​ As the solidarity economy draws heavily on open source philosophy,[18]​ open source projects dedicated to launching a peer-to-peer marketplace include Cocorico[19]​ and Sharetribe.[20]​ In 2010 CouchSurfing was formed as a for-profit organization, and by 2014 online marketplaces that are considered part of the sharing economy, such as Uber and Airbnb, were organized into the trade association. Peers.org.[21]​ In 2015 Alex Stephany, the founder of the online marketplace JustPark"), defined the sharing economy as the economic value that arises from making underutilized assets available online.[22]​.

A 2014 study of oDesk, one of the first global online marketplaces for freelance contractors, found that outsourcing micro-services increased opportunities for freelancers regardless of their geographic location, but the financial gains for most contractors were limited as experience and expertise did not translate into higher pay.[23]

A general criticism is that the laws and regulations surrounding online marketplaces are quite underdeveloped. Consequently, there is a discrepancy between the responsibility and accountability of the market and third parties. In recent years, online markets and platforms have faced a lot of criticism for their lack of consumer protection.[24]​.

In 1997, Yannis Bakos") studied online markets and came to consider them as a special type of electronic markets. He argued that they reduce economic inefficiencies by lowering the cost of acquiring information about sellers' products.[25] Online market operators are able to adapt their business model thanks to the data they have about platform users. Online market operators have a unique ability to obtain and use personal data and data in their economic decision-making. transactions"), but also social data and location data. Therefore, scholars have even considered markets as a new type of market economy. In 2010 Christian Fuchs&action=edit&redlink=1 "Christian Fuchs (sociologist) (not yet redacted)") argued that online markets operated "information capitalism." The inherent feedback loop allows operators of online marketplaces to increase their effectiveness as economic intermediaries. In 2016 Nick Srnicek argued that online marketplaces give rise to platform capitalism. In 2016 and 2018 respectively, Frank Pasquale and Shoshana Zuboff warned that the collection of data from online market operators gives rise to surveillance capitalism[26]​.