Mercado Libre will invest $1.1 billion to boost its Mexican operations by enhancing its financial solutions platforms and logistics as well as doubling the space of its warehouses and distribution centres.

This will mostly benefit small and medium enterprises, which constitute 70 percent of the platform’s vendors, by streamlining payments (Mercado Pago and Mercado Credito) and logistics (Mercado Envios) in order to reach a growing customer base in the Mexican market.

This announcement comes just weeks after the company revealed it would invest a record 10 billion Brazilian reais ($1.8 billion) to expand its logistics network in Brazil.

Mercado Libre has a presence in 18 countries, making it an important e-commerce partner for global brands like Guess, Adidas, Nike, Estée Lauder and L’Oréal across Latin America.

In 2020, Mexico overtook Argentina as the company’s second largest market. Mexico’s vendors sold 229.4 million items on the platform last year, representing year-on-year growth of 109.5 percent.