Brazil: Privalia's Success Story

    BARCELONA, Spain, July 29, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --

    - The On-line Fashion Market in Brazil is Expected to Undergo a
      Sustained Annual Increase of 32.5% Between 2008 and 2012, According to
      Forrester
    - Privalia Predicts That Sales for 2010 will be 8 Times Greater
      Than Those Registered in 2009
    - Brazil Will be the Biggest Growth Engine for Privalia and it is
      Expected to Generate the Largest Income at International Level

Brazil, with almost 193M inhabitants and a prospective growth rate of 6% for this year, would appear to be one of the most attractive countries in terms of investment of foreign capital.

The consolidation of the middle class as the majority group has strengthened the e-commerce sector and at present c.17.6M people are known to purchase a wide range of items over the Internet. The use of the Internet has risen rapidly in Brazil, and currently, with around 68M users, it has shot ahead of the U.K. and Spain, with 51M and 29M Internet users, respectively.

Situation in Europe and the USA

According to Forrester Research, on-line fashion sales in Western Europe are expected to grow at c.10% between 2008 and 2012 (CAGR 08-12), and at c.4% in the United States, the leader in world e-commerce development. However, whilst the e-commerce growth curve is beginning to consolidate and stabilise, the private sales Club sector has registered strong growth and shown a great capacity for development.

Brazil as a Hot Spot for investment

The strongest sector in this country is undoubtedly that of electronic commerce. According to e-Bit consultants, Internet purchases for the year 2009 increased by 30% vs. the previous year, with transactions surpassing 4,770M euros (10.6 thousand million Brazilian reales). Around 17.6M people stated they had made Internet purchases, which represents 26% of all Internet users in Brazil.

Forrester Research currently estimates the size of the on-line clothing sales market in Brazil at c.250M euros, and it expects it to reach c.500M euros in 2012. In percentage terms, this translates into an annual growth of 32.5% from 2008 to 2012, surpassing South European markets such as Spain (with an expected 24% p.a. growth for the same period).

Privalia in Brazil

In 2009 Privalia, (http://www.privalia.com/decide.html) run by the company's co-founders Lucas Carne and Jose Manuel Villanueva, expanded its business to Latin America, starting with Brazil.

Lucas Carne explains: "The Latin American market, with Brazil as a starting point, is the most attractive for investors, due to its very large population, the progressive increase of its middle class and the high growth rate of Internet sales and e-commerce market. This, together with different economic cycles vs. Europe, has enabled the company to diversify and to be less exposed to the current economic European situation. At Privalia, we foresaw this opportunity and were proven right"

Furthermore, subjective factors such as leanings towards brand names and a passion of fashion also contributed towards Privalia ( http://www.privalia.com/decide.html) successfully recognising Brazil as one of the growth engines, expected to generate the largest income in 2013.

    Figures

    - Brazil multiplied its invoicing fourfold during the first 12
      months, as compared to invoicing in Spain and Italy for the same period
    - Privalia Brazil multiplied its income by twelve in the first six
      months of 2010 compared to the results for the first six months of 2009
    - At present it has over 1.5 million members
    - Its distribution centre has increased fivefold in just two years
      in order to cope with the above mentioned expansion
    - At present there are over 140 "privalios" working for the
      company, when just 18 months ago there were only 5
    - During the first campaign for recruitment of members in Brazil,
      the company registered more than 270,000 members even before sales
      began, thanks to a strong on-line marketing strategy which reflected
      the viral nature of the market and the potential of the region

About Privalia

Privalia is a private club which organises periodical on-line sales of leading name products over the Internet, at exceptional prices exclusively for members. It was created in 2006 in Barcelona and at present has more than 4 million members worldwide, converting it in leader of operations and a reference point for this sector. Privalia has tripled its invoicing in 2009 and operates in Spain, Italy, Brazil and Mexico under a multi-regional company regime.

    Press Contact:

    Carolina Angel
    [email protected]
    +34-678987456

SOURCE Privalia