On Monday, Amazon announced that it had opened three more logistics centers in Brazil to take advantage of the boost the COVID-19 pandemic has given to e-commerce in South America’s largest economy.
The new units are already operating in the states of Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul and the capital city of Brasilia. They expand the number of Amazon logistics centers in Brazil to eight, expanding its reach to all corners of the vast country.
The company said in a statement that the expansion, which adds 75,000 square meters of distribution space, is Amazon’s biggest since it began operating in Brazil in 2012. It will create 1,500 direct jobs.
Amazon’s chief executive in Brazil, Alex Szapiro, said that the new centers will allow the company to immediately raise the number of cities where Amazon Prime customers can receive deliveries within two business days to over 500 from 400.
Szapiro told Reuters that “Brazil is the country with the fastest growth in Amazon Prime subscriptions,” referring to the company’s loyalty program, which was launched in Brazil in September last year.
Thousands of Brazilian businesses have migrated to e-commerce platforms as a result of social distancing measures and lockdown measures in recent months.
MercadoLibre, Latin America’s e-commerce leader, announced last week that its net revenue in the region soared nearly 150 percent in the third quarter, measured in local currencies.
MercadoLibre’s operation in Brazil, which accounts for more than half of its total business, more than doubled.
Other companies in Brazil, including Magazine Luiza, Via Varejo, and GPA, are buying up logistics startups to ride the same e-commerce wave.