The digital divide in the Mexican domestic market

On January 4, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) released data regarding the penetration that the digital economy has had in economic activities in Mexico. The measurement was made from the 2020 Economic Census and highlights the following results. Until September 2020, there were around 975,000 condominium web pages in Mexico, that is, with the .mx ending, of which only 23.5% registered extreme, very high and high use, while only 15.4% registered medium use. The rest remained below average and around 40% did not register activity. The reason for the above is that the majority of Mexican companies use internet pages only for advertising or informational purposes, about 77.2%, which implies that only 21.8% of companies with digital activity actually offered goods or services. online.

The economic activities that showed a higher percentage of companies with web pages were: retail trade with 18.4%, manufacturing with 13.5%, wholesale trade with 11.8%, professional, scientific and technical services with 8.9%, temporary accommodation services and preparation of food and beverages with 8.2%; the rest of the economic activities registered percentages below 5%. These results show that the market supply is not yet closely related to the digital economy; Mexican companies are not basing their marketing strategies on the Internet. One of the reasons can be found in the lack of cyber security that exists in our country.

For its part, the use of electronic platforms has grown significantly. The main means of payment that were used until September 2020 were: electronic payment platforms with 45.7% of the activity, bank cards 30.7%, payment by check 3.7% cryptocurrencies 1.3%. This implies, unlike the supply side, that the demand side of the market is indeed integrating into the digital economy.

This gap that exists in the use of the digital economy undoubtedly has negative repercussions mainly on the growth of the business sector. The inability of companies to adapt to the digital world may be causing a much shorter life cycle, especially as a result of the pandemic, and it is easy to identify that the most vulnerable companies in this regard are SMEs. Consequently, the large companies that tend to be most effective in terms of using the digital economy are those that are penetrating the digital market. Undoubtedly, these results will have changed due to the pandemic during 2021 and 2022. Business growth in this sense is to be expected, but it is highly likely that the gap between supply and demand will continue to be present.

*The author is Secretary of Research at the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences of the Universidad Panamericana