Fiera.com Targets Diverse L.A. Market

Fiera.com, an e-commerce site launched last year to target Latin America, has expanded its push into the U.S. market with a focus on Los Angeles.

The Miami-based site, now in Spanish and Portuguese, will soon add English to appeal to bilingual Latinos here. It has also honed its strategy in response to focus groups held by Claremont-based Tomas Rivera Policy Institute.

The focus groups found that Latino Internet users and nonusers alike were concerned about the safety of purchasing online. They also expressed interest in buying goods for relatives in Latin America, the company said.

Fiera offers books and CDs, electronics and computer equipment, toys, and health and beauty products. Since it operates in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Brazil, large products bought for those destinations will be shipped in-country, with local technical support and warranties.

Fiera is a sponsor of the Los Angeles-based Latin Business Assn. annual gala Friday and hopes to target Latino small-business customers.