// startup autopsy

EcommerceSV

El Salvador ecommerce competing against Mercado Libre and Amazon.mx in a 6-million-person market

competitionSlow Death

Years-long decline before final shutdown · Fatal mistake: El Salvador ecommerce dominated by Mercado Libre (55% market share) and Amazon.com.mx (cross-border accessible); DHL Express and FedEx served major brands; local logistics infrastructure limited to Aeropaq and Cargo Express; 70% card penetration but 50% preferred cash on delivery

Founded	2018
Closed	2021
Country	El Salvador
Sector	Ecommerce

// the model, blind

Evaluating only EcommerceSV’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Competition as the #1 likely cause. That’s exactly how it died.

Key Events Timeline

2018

FOUNDING

2020

CRISIS

2021

SHUTDOWN

Full Analysis

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Documented cause

EcommerceSV built e-commerce in El Salvador. Mercado Libre 55% share. Amazon.mx accessible. 50% cash-on-delivery preference. No competitive differentiation.

Lesson

“El Salvador e-commerce must specialize in a single high-value vertical (handcrafted goods, specialty foods) rather than general marketplace — Mercado Libre dominates the horizontal market, but the artisan export market ($300M) is underserved by regional platforms.”

Failure anatomy

Collapse type

Slow Death

🐌 LOW

Hype cycle

None

Moat type

Technology

Fatal mistake

El Salvador ecommerce dominated by Mercado Libre (55% market share) and Amazon.com.mx (cross-border accessible); DHL Express and FedEx served major brands; local logistics infrastructure limited to Aeropaq and Cargo Express; 70% card penetration but 50% preferred cash on delivery