Forbes Featured Tilopay in Its 2025 Ecommerce Special

In August 2025, Forbes Centroamérica published a special feature on ecommerce in the region. 

Tilopay was among the featured companies, underscoring the importance of an issue that is transforming how we buy and sell: digital payments as the backbone of ecommerce.

But what matters is not the media recognition—it is what this means for businesses: selling online is no longer optional. It is an urgent necessity for competing in increasingly demanding, interconnected, and customer-centric markets. 

<< Fast, secure, and hassle-free online payments for your business >>

The State of Ecommerce in the Region

Ecommerce in Central America and the Caribbean is expanding rapidly. The following figures help illustrate the scale of this trend:

• More than 20 million active digital shoppers in the region.
  






• Double-digit annual growth, outpacing the Latin American average.
  






• In markets such as Costa Rica and Panama, more than 40% of internet users have made at least one online purchase in the past year.
  






• However, only 30% of merchants have fully integrated online payment solutions.

This imbalance reveals a paradox: while consumers are moving toward digital adoption, many businesses remain stuck in traditional processes that limit their growth.

The Challenges Holding Back Regional Ecommerce

Ecommerce growth has not been consistent across the region. Structural barriers help explain why many businesses have yet to capitalize on this opportunity:

1. Trust and security. Digital fraud remains a common concern. A declined payment or failed transaction does more than cause a lost sale—it also erodes consumer trust.
   






2. Limited access to banking. In countries such as Guatemala and Honduras, less than 40% of the adult population has access to formal banking services, limiting the adoption of digital payment methods.
   






3. Bureaucratic processes. Integrating traditional payment gateways often involves weeks of paperwork, validations, and testing, creating friction that discourages merchants.
   






4. Technology fragmentation. Not all local platforms integrate with global solutions such as Shopify, Vtex, or WooCommerce. This creates silos and makes it harder to scale operations regionally and even globally.
   






5. Transaction efficiency. A sale is not complete until the money reaches the business’s account. Delays in reconciliation, hidden fees, or system outages affect cash flow.
   

The transaction is at the heart of every ecommerce business: without a payment, there is no sale.

Common Ecommerce Strategy Mistakes

Many businesses take their first steps into ecommerce while making mistakes that limit their success. The most common include:

1. Focusing Only on the Store, Not the Checkout Experience

Investing in an attractive website while neglecting a seamless payment experience is a critical mistake. If the checkout process is not fast and secure, cart abandonment can climb as high as 70%, according to industry studies.

2. Failing to Consider Scalability

A business may start with 50 orders per month, but if it scales to 5,000, the platform must deliver the same level of stability. Many makeshift solutions break down as transaction volume increases.

3. Ignoring Omnichannel Commerce

Customers no longer distinguish between physical and digital channels. They want it to be just as easy to pay through a website checkout, mobile app, or WhatsApp link. Failing to connect these touchpoints reduces opportunities.

4. Not Offering Enough Payment Options

In some countries, offering only credit cards means excluding a large segment of customers who prefer digital wallets or instant bank transfers.

5. Failing to Measure and Learn from Transactions

Every payment is a source of data: frequency, average order value, repeat purchases, and geography. Failing to use this information means missing out on valuable business intelligence.

How to Build a Profitable Ecommerce Business 

For a business in Central America to grow through ecommerce, it needs to meet the following requirements:

1. International-Grade Security

PCI DSS certifications, tokenization, and fraud prevention systems must be at the core of your operations. Customer confidence is the foundation of conversion.

2. Integration with Global Platforms

Shopify, Vtex, WooCommerce, and Wix are ecommerce leaders. Native integrations speed up implementation and prevent hidden development costs.

3. True Omnichannel Commerce

Ecommerce is not a separate channel. It must connect with your physical point of sale, call center, social media, and messaging apps.

4. Recurring Payments

Memberships, subscriptions, and services require automation. Customers do not want to enter their payment details every month; they want seamless continuity.

5. Immediate Access to Funds

Fast reconciliation is key. A business that waits days to receive its funds has less flexibility to reinvest in inventory and marketing.

6. Actionable Data

Every transaction should feed dashboards that help answer key questions:

• What is the average order value?
  






• What percentage of payments fail, and why?
  






• Which channels generate the most revenue?

7. Regional Scalability

The payment system must support both a local startup and an operation with a presence in multiple countries, while accommodating different currencies and regulations.

How Tilopay Solves These Challenges

Tilopay was designed as a regional payment ecosystem that meets the needs of merchants across the region.

• Retail Payment Facilitator: helps you move inventory faster with payment links, ecommerce integrations, and payment options tailored to local consumers.
  






• Hospitality Payment Facilitator: integrates with hotel and resort PMS platforms, allowing you to collect payments at every stage of the guest experience.
  






• Services Payment Facilitator: automates recurring payments, which is essential for insurance, education, healthcare, and subscriptions.

Practical examples:

A hotel in Panama can collect payment for an online reservation, process a payment at the front desk, and automate charges for additional services, all through the same platform. 

A retailer in Guatemala can sell in-store, online, and through WhatsApp using the same system, without losing control of reconciliation.

“Tilopay powers transactions so every sale flows smoothly, regardless of the channel, industry, or country.”

Growing One Transaction at a Time

Ecommerce in Central America is at a turning point. Consumers are ready; now businesses need to catch up.

Tilopay’s appearance in Forbes simply reflects a deeper reality: businesses that adopt modern payment solutions do more than sell more—they build trust, loyalty, and sustainable growth.

Success is not measured by having an online store, but by your ability to turn every sale into a secure, fast, and scalable transaction.

That is the Tilopay promise: to power transactions so your business can grow without friction.

You can read the full Forbes article in Revista Forbes Centroamérica on page 35.