After closing the purchase of the Target pharmacy chain, formerly owned by Memed, last year, Mercado Libre will begin its first steps in the pharmaceutical segment this year, eyeing a market of approximately R$ 20 billion.
According to Fernando Yunes , senior vice president and leader of Mercado Libre in Brazil, the idea is to start operating via 1P, a model in which the company is directly responsible for sales. However, he stressed that this is not the ultimate goal.
The goal is to change the regulation to allow marketplaces to sell medications, integrating pharmacies into the platform, in the same way that already happens in other product categories and in countries like Mexico, Chile, and Argentina.
“We are in talks with Anvisa and various stakeholders to modernize regulation in Brazil,” Yunes said on Tuesday, January 27, during the Latin America Investment Conference (LAIC) 2026, hosted by UBS and UBS BB.
“In parallel with these discussions, the timeframe of which is uncertain — six months, a year, or more — we plan to enter via 1P, which is permitted. Therefore, we purchased a pharmacy and, with this acquisition, obtained formal authorization to operate,” he added.
Yunes stated that Mercado Libre “doesn’t have the DNA” to be a 1P operator in the pharmacy sector, emphasizing that the company does not intend to buy and sell medications directly. “If we need to do that, it’s an option, but we prefer to have a network of pharmacies, as we already do in other categories,” he said.
Value proposition
The pharmaceutical market is one of Mercado Libre's main bets for the coming years, given the low penetration of online commerce, but it is not the only one.
The company also targets the B2B market, serving corporate clients, a relevant audience for Mercado Libre, but limited by the fact that the platform is geared towards individuals.
Yunes highlighted that the company intends to bring resources already present in other countries, such as volume discounts and tools to meet the accounting needs of buyers.
“There’s a whole process required for issuing invoices; it’s quite different,” he said. “A distinct user experience is needed to organize the processes and meet the compliance requirements of the companies.”
According to him, B2B represents a "huge opportunity" for Mercado Libre, but the first results should take time to appear, due to the need to adapt systems and processes. "It will be a great opportunity, but it should consolidate in three or four years," he stated.
In the short term, in addition to the pharmaceutical segment, Mercado Libre wants to expand its operations in food and beverages, given the low penetration of this sector in online commerce, close to 3%.
Yunes also highlighted the need to attract more brands to have stores within the platform. "We already have more than 3,500 official stores, but there is still room to bring in new brands," he said.
These investments are part of Mercado Libre's strategy to strengthen itself in the face of new players, especially from Asia. For Yunes, the competition is positive because it attracts more consumers to the digital world, considering that the offline market is still very large.
“E-commerce in Brazil had a penetration of 5% before 2020 and is now around 15% to 16%. But it should reach 30% in five years,” he said. “The market is competitive, but it is growing and adding new users.”
According to him, the platform that will stand out in this scenario will be the one that offers a superior value proposition, with a wider assortment of products, fair prices, fast delivery, and good after-sales service. The result will be a reduction in the number of companies.
“This tends to be a segment where the winner gets stronger. And it’s very difficult. Why would anyone buy from a competitor that offers a lower value proposition, a higher price, and slower delivery? It’s very difficult, and that’s why there tends to be concentration,” he concluded.
