Global study reveals that Latin America is the fastest-accelerating market in unified commerce

Latin America is emerging as the fastest-growing unified commerce market in the world, combining rapid capacity evolution with innovative operating models.This is what the Global Unified Trade Benchmark 2026, a study conducted by Manhattan Associates in partnership with Incisiv, which analyzed more than 400 retailers in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), Latin America and North America, reveals.

The study points out that Latin America was the region with the greatest global evolution in fulfillment maturity (the process from the consultation at the point of sale to the delivery of a product to the customer), with an advance of 26 percentage points compared to 2024 2024 ¡the biggest jump among all the regions analyzed. This progress contributed to raising the global level of this capacity and reflects a significant operational transformation in the region.

While still facing structural challenges such as fragmented infrastructure and lower historical maturity in e-commerce, the region has been rapidly reducing the gap with more consolidated markets and, in some cases, creating its own approaches that can anticipate global trends.

“A Latin America is showing that constraints do not necessarily limit innovation, they can accelerate more creative and efficient solutions”, says Stefan Furtado, regional manager at Manhattan Associates.“O we see in the region is an extremely adaptive retail, which finds ways to connect channels and serve the consumer fluidly even in more complex scenarios.”

Accelerated growth and practical innovation

This advance in Latin America is directly linked to the adoption of more agile and consumer-oriented models, such as the intensive use of mobile devices along the journey, the expansion of alternative means of payment and the service and sales via messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp.

This set of practices highlights a more pragmatic approach to omnichannel, less dependent on legacy structures (old systems and processes that still sustain the business but hinder innovation and integration) and more focused on quickly solving consumer needs.

“Unlike more mature markets, where transformation often depends on complex systems already in place, in Latin America we see a greater ability to experiment and implement solutions more directly”, says Furtado. “This accelerates evolution and creates experiences that are often closer than the consumer actually expects”

The region's advancement comes in a challenging context for global retail.According to the study, logistics costs have increased by more than 20% over the past three years, while consumers have come to demand faster deliveries, greater flexibility and increasingly personalized experiences.At the same time, the buying journey has become more fragmented: more than 66% of consumers use two or more channels before completing a purchase.

Global comparison: distinct forces between regions

The study reinforces that there is no single maturity model in unified commerce, since each region has distinct strengths. North America (NOAM) leads in customization, data use and execution of the shopping and checkout stages, while EMEA stands out for operational consistency, cross-border fulfillment and strong regulatory alignment. Latin America appears as the region that most rapidly evolves, highlighting adaptive innovation and new engagement models.

Despite these differences, there is an important convergence: retailers that can connect the journey from end to end have significantly superior results.The study shows that more mature companies in unified commerce achieve up to twice the growth rate compared to their less developed peers.

The future of retail can come from Latin America

More than just closing the gap to more advanced markets, Latin America is beginning to position itself as a possible laboratory for the future of retail, especially in areas such as conversational commerce, alternative payments and mobile-first experiences.

For Furtado, this change in perception is inevitable: “A Latin America is no longer seen only as a developing region and is now seen as a space for experimentation and real innovation. Many of the solutions that arise here have the potential of global scale”

The survey also shows that only 7% of global retailers have reached a level considered leader in unified commerce, while 33% still remain in basic stages.At the same time, 38% of the capabilities that differentiated leaders in 2024 have already become standard by 2026.