Amazon.com Inc
is looking for a new location in central Mexic o, to open a fourth distribution center in the country, sources said, aiming at a bigger slice of the growing e-commerce market in Latin America ’s second-largest economy.
The retailers' target is Querétaro , a state in the industrial center of Mexico , where it is looking to hire a developer to build a large hub, two real estate professionals said.
Amazon
's expansion plans highlight its intent to establish itself beyond Mexico ’s capital, chasing in on the nation’s potential to grow into an e-commerce engine of Latin America .
Online shopping
in Mexico represented just 3.0% of the total sales from last year, according to market research firm Euromonitor International , but it is projected to double by 2022, reaching USD $14 billion.
“ Mexico ’s digital economy has great potential. We expect it to keep growing in the future,” said Brian Huseman, Amazon ’s vice president for public policy, at a recent event in Mexico City to promote its efforts to get more Mexican companies on its platform.
“ Amazon is here for the long run,” he said.
Querétaro
, 114 miles north of Mexico City , is within a day’s reach of Monterrey and Guadalajara , two of Mexico’s most populous regions. It also sits in a cluster of middle-class cities in the Bajío , a region dense with automotive and aerospace plants.
Amazon
’s expansion to Querétaro would be part of the company’s bid to attract shoppers with fast deliveries while keeping a lid on shipping expenses.
“It’s all about speed to market and keeping costs low,” said Marc Wulfraat , president of logistics consultancy MWPVL International Inc.
Amazon
, which began selling goods in Mexico in 2015, already operates three warehouses just outside Mexico City with about 1.5 million square feet. That space is equivalent to just 1.0 percent of its vast U.S. logistics footprint, according to MWPVL .
Still, it has grown faster in Mexico than in Brazil .
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