One of South Africa's shopping websites, www.wantitall.co.za has announced that it attempt to enter into the South American market by launching another shopping website, www.compreus.br, in Brazil. They believe Brazil is one of the most exciting emerging markets around and are encourage by the growth of the site already, considering there marketing campaigns haven't even hit the ground in Brazil yet.

CompreUS, translated from both Spanish and Portuguese, aptly means Buy U.S. The technology and knowhow that has been pioneered in South Africa now allows Brazilians to order whatever they desire from the United States, from the Amazon.com monster.

Managed from the WantItAll office in Bryanston South Africa, CompreUS is run by a team on the ground in Sao Paulo. Launched four months ago, CompreUS has managed to become self-sustaining since, and has over 50 000 visitors per month. This is particularly impressive given marketing and advertising plans have not yet rolled out, and these statistics will undoubtedly rise when strategic online campaigns are executed in October.

In comparison to the South African market, an estimated 34 percent of the Brazilian populations are Internet users, while only 10.5 percent of South Africans are online. This makes the market well worth investigating.

“Brazil is the most exciting emerging market in the world and its scope and size are overwhelming,” says WantItAll founder Terence Murphy, who spearheads the operations and logistics of the Brazil venture. “We had some good relationships with some solid citizens in Sao Paulo and were so inspired by the magnitude of the Brazilian Internet landscape that we decided to take a chance and try our luck in this territory.”

In the few months since launch, the three Port Elizabeth born e-tailers (Murphy and his two partners Justin and Ryan Drennan) have dedicated time to fine tuning and streamlining the operational system. This included accommodating operational differences between the two territories. For example, Brazilians purchase via BOLETO. This is a confirmation document that is printed out once you place an order online. The customer must then take this document to a bank in order to do a bank transfer. In South Africa, by contrast, WantItAll simply sends you the banking details and you as a customer make the payment.

Says Ronnie Apteker, Internet Solutions (IS) founder and Internet entrepreneur, who recently invested in the startup, “We have managed to create a self-sustaining retail portal in Brazil, like WantItAll in South Africa, and are very excited about the size and potential of the South American market. Brazil is a powerhouse with 60 million people online and this figure is growing fast.”

“According to IBOPE/Net Ratings, Brazil is the number one country with regards to social media usage globally. Individuals in Brazil spend more time on social network sites than any other country in the world. They love the Internet,” adds Murphy. CompreUS has seen a demand for watches, jewellery and computer games, he notes.

Having settled in and successfully launched in South America, the next territories that are under online construction for the WantItAll team are Nigeria, Argentina and Chile. WantItAll expects to have these live early 2010.