Immigrants + Internet = Immi-merce

Jamaica/Amsterdam – There are vast amount of business opportunities linked to immigrant populations traveling back and forth, in large numbers, between their ‘ancestral’ and adopted countries. But what about the new commercial opportunities whenever these home trotters choose to stay put? What about the increasing flow of money linked to selling and buying goods in, or from, immigrants’ countries of origin? Trendwatching.com have dubbed this phenomenon IMMI-MERCE and SiliconCaribe agrees.

One excellent example of IMMI-MERCE is being propelled by the large number of South American immigrants living in the US, many of whom use South American websites to order goods for their relatives and friends back home, primarily as a substitute for sending money. A recent Wall Street Journal(WSJ) article described how US citizens of Argentinean descent use Discovirtual.com.ar, the website of an Argentinean supermarket chain, to have food and presents delivered instantly to their family.

The same goes for the large number of Caribbean American immigrants living in the US, 2-2.5 million is the estimate – 70% in the New York tri-state area, 20% in South Florida and the remaining 10% scattered throughout. According to Silicon Caribe’s research and sources three years ago, approximately 15% of those are online and as a group they have annual purchasing power of US$40billion.

A number of them already use offline and online methods of sending the over US$5 billion in remittances (sending money back home by check or transfer) a year,a red hot aspect of IMMI-MERCE, using Western Union, Credit Union money transfer brands like Jamaican National, as well as online options such as xoom.com and senvia.com. This is in addition to shopping online to order goods for relatives and friends back home on sites like superplusfoods.com and courtsjamaica.com

The same concept works for US-based Peruvians who order at the E.Wong website in Peru, and Brazilian immigrants who shop on behalf of their relatives at Brazil‘s second largest retailer,Paodeacucar.com.br. Strictly Peruvian, E.Wong even advertises its service in Florida,California,New York,and Washington DC – areas with large populations of relatively prosperous Peruvians. Not surprisingly, Visa Card, always on the look-out for new e-commerce initiatives, is encouraging this trend, and has closed a deal with E.Wong to streamline foreign payment issues. (Source: WSJ.)

Joint reporting by siliconcaribe.com and trendwatching.com