Join Arianne, Cecilia, and Brandon as they share key strategies for growing your sales in Latin America during Prime Day.

Prime Day Strategies to Boost Your Sales in Latin America: Key Insights from Our Webinar

This week, we hosted a webinar on one of the hottest topics for Amazon sellers: how to take advantage of Prime Day in Latin America. I had the pleasure of moderating the session, joined by two amazing speakers:

• Michael – Head of Affiliate Partnerships at SmartScout. With a finance background and experience at Bloomberg, Helium 10, and other e-commerce brands, he brings deep expertise in marketplace data and global expansion.
• Arianne – Senior Business Developer at nocnoc, and former Amazon Marketplace Manager. She has led 1P and 3P operations for categories like Books, Electronics, and Sports, and now helps international sellers scale across Latin American marketplaces.

Together, we broke down the opportunity in Latin America, Prime Day’s growing relevance, and data-driven insights for sellers looking to grow beyond the U.S.

Below is a structured summary of everything discussed.

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1. Why Latin America? The Untapped Opportunity Sellers Can’t Ignore

Arianne opened the conversation with a simple point: Latin America is huge, digital, and still under-explored.

Key numbers sellers should know

• 650 million people live in the region
• 80% internet penetration
• 351 million online consumers (compared to ~275 million in the U.S.)
• Cross-border e-commerce in LATAM is projected to reach USD 114B by 2026

Despite this scale, competition is far lower than in the U.S. or Europe.

Arianne highlighted that international products are highly valued, and consumers actively look for them—but local access remains limited. That gap is a massive opportunity for global brands.

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2. “Big Fish, Little Pond” Effect: Why U.S. Sellers Can Win Big in LATAM

Michael expanded on this with a powerful analogy inspired by Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath:
Sometimes success isn’t about being the best in the most competitive market—
it’s about choosing the right pond.

Using SmartScout data, he showed that:

• Some niches see much higher category market share in Mexico or Brazil than in the U.S.
• Example: RC hobby helicopters
  • U.S.: ~0.6% category share
  • Mexico: ~3% category share
  • Plus, category growth in Mexico was nearly 900% YoY

Higher category share can mean:

• Lower marketing costs
• Easier discoverability
• Faster organic growth

In other words: your niche may perform better in LATAM than in the U.S. without the same uphill battle.

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3. Prime Day’s Rise in Latin America: What Sellers Need to Know

Most sellers think of Prime Day as a U.S.-centric event, but it’s quickly becoming one of LATAM’s most important online shopping periods—especially in Brazil and Mexico.

How Prime Day has evolved

• Originally a 24-hour event in 2015
• Now spans up to 6 days in Brazil
• Live across 26 countries, including major LATAM markets
• Traffic in Brazil has reached 3 million page views per minute
• Mexican SMBs generated USD 181M during Prime Day last year
• Brazil even launched a second Prime Day edition due to its success

Arianne added an insider detail from her time at Amazon:
To appear as a Prime Day deal, Amazon requires the lowest price of the year.
If they spot a lower price on another marketplace, your deal is dropped.
This builds deep consumer trust, which is why shoppers intentionally wait for Prime Day to make big purchases.

Michael reinforced this with SmartScout data, showing a massive spike in Prime Exclusive Deals from large brands like Samsung during Prime Day. This is a clear signal that LATAM Prime Day is now a mainstream event, and smaller sellers should take advantage of the traffic surge as well.

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4. Amazon’s Growth in Latin America: Where the Data Points

Michael also shared powerful marketplace data from SmartScout, looking specifically at Amazon Mexico:

• 500+ categories earn USD 1M+ per month and grew at least 50% YoY
• 75 categories above USD 1M/month grew over 200% YoY
• High-growth categories include TV & Electronics, Toys, and more

This growth is reminiscent of early-stage Amazon U.S. years—huge demand, still developing supply, and plenty of room to enter as a first mover.

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5. What This Means for International Sellers

To close the conversation, Arianne emphasized three key takeaways:

✔ LATAM consumers love international products

Often because local options are limited, expensive, or inconsistent.

✔ The competition is significantly lower

Especially in categories that are oversaturated in the U.S.

✔ The moment is now

E-commerce adoption, cross-border logistics, and local marketplaces are evolving fast.

With demand rising and competition still low, sellers can grow brand awareness and acquire new customers at a fraction of the cost compared to mature markets.

6. The Risk of Focusing Only on the U.S. Market

During the session, I shared a key insight from John Caplan, CEO of Payoneer, who spoke at our Unlock LatAm event last year. He highlighted that less than 10% of U.S. companies export.
That number always stands out to me — because it means most U.S. sellers rely entirely on one market for their growth.

So we asked:

What are the risks of depending solely on the U.S. market, especially during high-pressure events like Prime Day?

Arianne: “You should never put all your eggs in one basket.”

Drawing from her experience managing Amazon sellers, Arianne explained why relying 100% on Amazon U.S. is risky:

1. Account suspensions can shut down your entire business

Amazon is the dominant marketplace in the U.S.
So if your account gets suspended, flagged, or restricted, your whole operation is immediately at risk.

Without international marketplaces or your own DTC store, sellers have no backup channel.

2. Customer expectations in the U.S. are extremely high

Especially during Prime Day:

• Shoppers expect very deep discounts
• Plus same-day or next-day delivery
• Competition for visibility is intense
• CPCs skyrocket
• Profit margins shrink

Many sellers end up investing heavily just to participate — and sometimes, even selling at break-even.

3. Oversaturation creates “customer fatigue”

Prime Day in the U.S. has become a crowded battlefield.
Thousands of brands run deals, sponsor ads, and compete for the same limited attention.

Meanwhile, Latin America is growing fast with:

• Less competition
• High demand for international products
• Lower ad costs
• And a growing base of Prime members

For many sellers, LATAM can balance out the volatility of the U.S. market.

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7. Real Example: What Happens When a Brand Relies Only on the U.S.

Michael shared a powerful example from SmartScout’s data: EcoFlow, a major brand selling solar generators and battery kits.

These products are high-ticket (starting around $900), and the brand has traditionally been very strong on Amazon U.S.

But here’s what happened:

EcoFlow U.S. Marketplace Performance (Last 12 Months)

• Strong growth leading up to Prime Day
• Suddenly: Account suspension
• After the suspension, sales dropped 55% over the following 6 months
• The brand has not recovered to previous levels

One marketplace. One suspension. A major business impact.

What saved them? Diversification.

EcoFlow had expanded into Mexico.
And in Mexico, their performance looked completely different:

EcoFlow Mexico Performance

• 128% growth YoY
• Stable performance even while the U.S. account was down
• New customers + less competition

This case is a clear illustration of why U.S.-first brands must diversify — not for “growth,” but for protection.

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8. Why LATAM Should Be Part of Every Seller’s Diversification Plan

Arianne summarized the final takeaways:

• LATAM consumers actively seek international products
• Local alternatives are often limited or more expensive
• Competition is significantly lower than in the U.S.
• Category growth (in both MX and BR) is accelerating
• Prime Day is becoming a mainstream shopping event in the region

For sellers, expanding into Latin America is not just about higher revenue — it’s about lowering risk and creating multiple paths for sustainable growth.