Consumer Trends for Chile's Second Half of 2026
The Chilean consumer has changed — and if your store hasn't adapted, you're already seeing it in your sales.
What Changed in the Last 6 Months
At the beginning of the year, it looked like ecommerce was stabilizing. Then Q1 numbers came in and told a different story: Chilean shoppers are spending, just not where you'd expect.
Across the 30+ stores we've worked with, the pattern is clear. People didn't stop buying online. What changed is what they buy, where they buy it, and how much they're willing to pay.
Categories That Are Growing
Wellness and self-care keeps climbing. I'm not just talking about supplements — I'm talking about scented candles, imported Korean skincare, yoga accessories. One of our clients who sells artisan soaps doubled her sales between March and June without touching her prices. The key? She started putting together gift kits for specific dates.
Premium pet products is another category that exploded. Technical harnesses, natural food, heavy-duty toys. The average order value in this category rose 22% year over year across the stores we manage.
Specialty foods: gluten-free, keto, vegan, organic. This isn't niche anymore. Online supermarkets are competing in this space, but specialized stores keep winning on curation and trust.
Circular fashion and secondhand is no longer taboo. Platforms like Vestiaire and GoTrendier educated the market, and now local stores are capitalizing on that with consignment models.
Average Order Value: Surprises
The average ecommerce ticket in Chile hovers around $38,000–$45,000 CLP depending on the category. But the interesting part is what's happening at the extremes: stores that do upselling and bundling well are pushing tickets to $55,000–$70,000 CLP without aggressive discounting.
The lesson: consumers aren't looking for the cheapest option. They're looking for perceived value. If you show them a bundle that makes sense, they'll pay more without overthinking it.
Channels That Are Growing (and Those That Aren't)
TikTok Shop still hasn't officially launched in Chile, but organic TikTok traffic to online stores grew 40% this year. If you're not publishing content there, you're missing out on discovery.
WhatsApp Business is no longer just for customer service. Several stores we advise are closing sales directly through the WhatsApp catalog, especially in regions where trust in traditional ecommerce still isn't fully there.
Instagram is still strong, but organic reach is at historic lows. If you rely solely on Instagram without investing in paid ads, you're going to feel the drop.
Google Shopping is the channel most stores are underusing. Cost per click is still reasonable in Chile compared to other markets, and purchase intent is much higher than on social media.
What This Means for Your Store
You don't need to sell everything or be on every channel. But you do need to know where your customer is today — not where they were a year ago.
Three concrete things you can do this week:
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Review your product mix. Is there an emerging category you could test without a big investment? A new supplier, a themed kit, a complementary product line.
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Check where your traffic comes from. If more than 70% comes from a single channel, you have a risk. Diversify, even with a small experiment.
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Raise your average order value without lowering prices. Bundles, free shipping above a certain amount, complementary products on the product page. These are changes you can implement in a day that actually move the needle.
The second half of the year is always the strongest for ecommerce in Chile. Fiestas Patrias (Chile's national independence celebration in September), Black Friday, Christmas. But the season is won by those who prepare early, not those who react once it's already started.
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