MercadoLibre Taps Into Pharma and Food With Regional Pilots

Summary

Bloomberg Businessweek Podcast Summary

Episode: MercadoLibre Taps Into Pharma and Food With Regional Pilots
Date: September 10, 2025
Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec
Guest: Martin de los Santos, CFO of MercadoLibre

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on MercadoLibre’s recent business performance and strategic direction, especially its expansion into new categories like pharmaceuticals and food. Martin de los Santos, CFO, discusses the company’s growth in e-commerce and fintech, provides insight into their acquisition of a Brazilian pharmacy, addresses competition (namely Amazon), and shares the company’s philosophy on innovation, acquisitions, and AI investment.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. MercadoLibre’s Recent Performance & Growth Prospects

[01:43–03:07]

• Strong Q2 results in both e-commerce and fintech.
• FinTech users rose 30% year-on-year; e-commerce up 25%.
• Financial inclusion and overall e-commerce penetration in Latin America remain relatively low, pointing to significant growth potential.
  • Quote:

    “We continue to increase financial inclusion...we are very excited not only with the results… but...with the growth that we see ahead of us.”
    —Martin de los Santos [02:13]

2. Engagement with Global Investors

[03:15–03:44]

• Martin is attending the Goldman Sachs Technology Company conference in San Francisco, engaging with investors and analysts.
• Discussions focus on fintech launches (notably a new credit card in Argentina) and expanding services.
  • Quote:

    “We are doubling our credit book year on year…a lot of new things happening on our ecosystem.”
    —Martin de los Santos [03:44]

3. Entry into Pharma and Food Delivery

[04:21–05:17, 06:15–06:48]

• Recently acquired a small pharmacy in Brazil as a pilot in the pharmaceutical category—a sector with low e-commerce penetration but high frequency and potential.
• Pilots are underway in all operational countries, but pharma remains a small part of current business.
  • Quote:

    “Pharma...is very low with very low penetration of e-commerce, but it’s a large category…We are experimenting...It’s a complex segment… but it has a big potential.”
    —Martin de los Santos [04:35]

• Similar small-scale bets in food delivery and supermarket segments; large opportunities but in nascent stages.

4. Acquisition Philosophy and M&A Activity

[05:17–05:57]

• Historically, MercadoLibre has favored building capabilities internally over acquiring.
• Existing fulfillment and fintech solutions were developed in-house, supported by their 18,000 developers.
  • Quote:

    "...for the most part we are not an acquisitive company."
    —Martin de los Santos [05:28]

5. Competitive Landscape: Amazon and Other Players

[06:48–08:39]

• While MercadoLibre monitors global competition, their approach tailors innovations to local Latin American realities.
• Their fintech model is more influenced by China’s mobile finance than the U.S., due to regional needs.
• Unfazed by Amazon’s investment in Colombian delivery company Rappi; confident in their proprietary logistics and payment infrastructure.
  • Quote on adaptation:

    “We do observe a lot what’s happening in the world, but then we need to customize it to Latin America, which has a...different environment.”
    —Martin de los Santos [07:04]

  • Quote on Amazon:

    "We will continue to compete with them based on the strength of our ecosystem."
    —Martin de los Santos [08:10]

6. AI Investments and Technology Strategy

[08:39–09:43]

• MercadoLibre is not investing at the scale of “mega cap” US tech companies but sees AI as a tool for cost savings, user experience improvements, and agent interactions.
• Developers are leveraging AI to boost productivity; ongoing experiments in consumer-facing AI and agent-based user interactions.
  • Quote:

    “The 18,000 developers that we have are embracing AI and becoming more productive. Also consumer-facing...improving because of AI...”
    —Martin de los Santos [08:49]

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Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• On Market Potential:
  “Penetration of e-commerce in Latin America continues to be relatively low compared to the US or Asia... plenty of growth in the future.”
  —Martin de los Santos [02:13]
• On Acquisition Strategy:
  "...for the most part we are not an acquisitive company."
  —Martin de los Santos [05:28]
• On Innovation:
  “We do observe a lot what’s happening in the world, but then we need to customize it to Latin America...”
  —Martin de los Santos [07:04]
• On AI:
  “The 18,000 developers that we have are embracing AI and becoming more productive.”
  —Martin de los Santos [08:49]
• On Amazon and Competition:
  "We will continue to compete with them based on the strength of our ecosystem."
  —Martin de los Santos [08:10]

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Important Timestamps

• 01:43: Episode focus shifts to MercadoLibre and interview with CFO.
• 02:13: Discussion on growth, e-commerce and fintech metrics.
• 03:20: Martin at Goldman Sachs tech conference, investor sentiment.
• 03:44: Recent fintech product launches; credit growth.
• 04:35: Entry into pharma category with experimental approach.
• 05:28: M&A discussion; rationale for building rather than buying.
• 06:15: Outlook for pharma & food delivery categories.
• 07:04: Strategy on adapting global models to Latin America.
• 08:10: Thoughts on Amazon's Rappi investment and competition.
• 08:49: AI investments—cost savings, user experience, and productivity.

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Tone & Language

The conversation is pragmatic, optimistic, and analytical. Martin de los Santos is candid about both the company's ambitions and the measured, methodical approach MercadoLibre takes toward innovation, expansion, and competition. The dialogue is business-focused with ample technical insight, yet accessible for a broad audience interested in business trends, Latin America, and technology.

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This summary provides a comprehensive view for listeners interested in MercadoLibre’s evolving strategy, its near-term innovations in fintech, pharma, and food, its competitive stance, and its vision for technology integration in a unique regional context.

Transcript

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You're listening to Bloomberg Businessweek with Carol Massar and Tim Stanvak on Bloomberg Radio.

[Bloomberg Interviewer (Matt)]

Mercado Libra is basically the Amazon of South America. The stock is more than doubled in the past five years, up 125% and the CFO joins us right now out of Latin America, Martin de los Santos and Martin, I've spoken to you a couple of times in the past few months. Give us an update on how your business is doing, how your growth is looking right now and how the economy feels to you.

[Martin de los Santos (CFO, Mercado Libre)]

Hi Matt, thank you for having me. Pleasure being here. We announced results a couple of months ago for Q2 which shown very strong growth both on our E Commerce platform as well as our Fintech business. Number of users growing very nicely. 30% on FinTech, 25% year on year. Growth on commerce, performing very very well in all of the markets where we operate. We continue to increase financial inclusion but then when we look at ahead we see plenty of growth in the future. Penetration of E commerce in Latin America continues to be relatively low compared to the US or Asia. It's at mid teen percent. Financial inclusion is very, very low and we're also making significant progress on bringing people to our, to our ecosystem. So we are very excited not only with the results that we deliver in Q2, but, but with the. More importantly with the growth that we see ahead of us.

[Bloomberg Interviewer (Matt)]

I will say normally. So, Martin, I know normally you're in Montevideo, but right now you're in San Francisco. Just to correct myself.

[Bloomberg Interviewer (Co-host)]

Yeah, well, tell us a little bit, Martin, about why you are in San Francisco.

[Martin de los Santos (CFO, Mercado Libre)]

We are attending the Goldman Sachs Technology Company conference. I'm sorry. So we're visiting with investors and analysts and again talking about the results and the future of the company.

[Bloomberg Interviewer (Co-host)]

And to that point, I mean this. So this is a technology conference. How are investors globally thinking about the Latin American tech scene? What are some of the conversations that you're having on the ground there?

[Martin de los Santos (CFO, Mercado Libre)]

Yeah, obviously they're looking at growth. The opportunity that we have on the FinTech, the new launches that we have done recently. On the fintech side, we announced the launching of the new credit card in Argentina. We are doubling our credit book year on year in this quarter. We are doubling the amount of the funds investing on our platform. On the commerce side, we are at record levels in terms of growth. We continue to increase market shares on all of the markets where we operate. We're increasing our free shipping offering. So a lot of new things happening on our ecosystem and those are the type of things that we're discussing with investors.

[Bloomberg Interviewer (Matt)]

Poonam Goyal, our Bloomberg Intelligence analyst who watches your business, wants to know about the acquisition of Globo Brazilian drugstore and how we should interpret that acquisition, what you're going to do with it. What's your strategy?

[Martin de los Santos (CFO, Mercado Libre)]

Yeah, I think when you look at the pharma category is a. It's a category that is very low with very low penetration of E commerce, but it's a large category within commerce in general with a lot of frequency of purchase. So we are experimenting not only in Brazil, but in each country where we operate. We have small pilots on pharma. It's a complex segment of a market because it's highly regulated, but we think it generates a big opportunity going forward. So it's not a lot to report right now. We just acquired in Brazil a small pharmacy to start to experiment. It's a very small part of our business, but it has a big potential because of the size of the commerce that is done on pharma.

[Bloomberg Interviewer (Co-host)]

Well, talk to us more broadly about how you're thinking about M and A right now. You made this purchase, of course, at the end of August should we expect to see more, more purchases from you?

[Martin de los Santos (CFO, Mercado Libre)]

No, we historically have been very, very, you know, we have performed very few acquisitions for the most part. We like to build what we do and we have done so now. We have built our full fulfillment infrastructure on our own instead of acquiring. We have built our fintech solutions throughout the years on our own. We have 18,000 developers that are focusing on building the product of Mercado Libra, Mercado Pago. So I would say that for the most part we are not an acquisitive company.

[Bloomberg Interviewer (Matt)]

What about the pharma side of the business? I mean do you see a lot of growth there? It's something that Amazon has recently gone into. Here are how many of your customers are getting their drugs from you now or online now compared to what you expect in say five years?

[Martin de los Santos (CFO, Mercado Libre)]

I think if you look at the pharmacy as percentage of sales at Mercado Libre is negligible. It's almost non existent today. So it's more of an opportunity going forward than a reality today. As I mentioned, we operate in 18 different countries. Each country has a different regulation for pharma. So I think it's more of an opportunity than a reality today. But like, like pharma, there are many different bets that we're doing throughout the operation that you know, supermarket one be experimented with food delivery that are small today but represent large opportunities going forward.

[Bloomberg Interviewer (Matt)]

By the way, Martin, can you watch what Amazon does and you know, do you have time to watch them, wait and see how it works out for them and then do it yourself? Or, or do you like to make your own innovative moves? Make moves at the same time? How does that work?

[Martin de los Santos (CFO, Mercado Libre)]

I think obviously we observe when we analyze everything around the world, obviously the US but a lot what's happening in China and we try to bring those things to, to Latin America, but those require adaptation, right? I mean in the early days when we started Mercado Libre 25 years ago, we used to be very similar to ebay. But we rapidly realized that, you know, we needed to adjust the model and we, we move away from that, the auction model for instance. Then we build our infrastructure in the same way as Amazon has in the US our FinTech solution looks a lot more what the Chinese have in, in China because of financial inclusion that we needed to make. So I think we do observe a lot what's happening in the world, but then we need to customize it to Latin America, which has a different, very different environment.

[Bloomberg Interviewer (Co-host)]

Well, it feels like Amazon is the elephant in every room just about and on the topic of Amazon, they recently bought a stake in, in a Latin American delivery startup, Rappi. I believe it's pronounced. It's a Colombian delivery company. What does this potentially mean for you? What did you make of that news?

[Martin de los Santos (CFO, Mercado Libre)]

I think we've been competing with Amazon for many years in Brazil and obviously more intensely in Mexico. And again, as I mentioned before, we have built our logistic infrastructure on payment infrastructure to compete with Amazon with Asian players and we will continue to compete with them based on the strength of our ecosystem. So again, doesn't change the trajectory of our investments or our strategy. Yeah, not, not much to report on that front.

[Bloomberg Interviewer (Matt)]

What's your investment strategy in terms of AI or data centers? Are you pouring, you know, like all of the mega cap tech companies over here, billions of dollars into that?

[Martin de los Santos (CFO, Mercado Libre)]

No, we're not. I think we. Regarding AI, I would break it down in three. There are certain initiatives that are helping us with cost savings. There are certain ones that are consumer facing and are helping us to push growth and improve the user experience and conversion. And that there are certain ones that speak more about the agent AI, the way we interact with our users. I would say that we're making a lot of progress in terms of cost savings in many different areas of the business in particular and coding. The 18,000 developers that we have are embracing AI and becoming more productive. Also consumer facing. A lot of ways that the users interact with our platform had been improving because of AI and then on the agenda we're experimenting a lot. I think on that front. We have more questions than answered yet. But we have a large team of people who are looking at ways we can improve the user experience via developing our own agents.

[Bloomberg Interviewer (Co-host)]

All right, that's a good place to leave it. Martin. It's really great to get some time with you. That is Martin D. Los Santos. He is the Chief Financial officer of Mercado Libre.

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