Proximity Pix reinforces the strategic importance of the payment infrastructure.

The arrival of proximity Pix in 2025 has reignited attention on the role of payment infrastructure in Brazilian e-commerce. This development demonstrates the accelerated pace of innovation in the sector and highlights how seemingly technical changes directly affect the consumer experience. According to the Central Bank of Brazil, Pix already brings together over 165 million users and exceeds 3.5 billion monthly transactions, solidifying its position as one of the public's preferred methods. This context makes it even clearer how any evolution in the payment method impacts digital retail. However, beyond highlighting a new method, this movement shows that the payment gateway has become an essential part of online stores' brand strategy, conversion, and credibility.

Digital retail has evolved in customer service, logistics, and communication, but the checkout remains one of the most critical points in the journey. It is at the moment of payment that the consumer makes the final assessment regarding trust and convenience. If the process seems insecure, limited, slow, or incompatible with the public's preferred methods, friction immediately translates into cart abandonment, even when everything else in the journey worked well. This effect is even more pronounced in a mobile environment, which already accounts for over 60% of online purchases in the country, according to Ebit | Nielsen data, where any redirection or freezing turns into immediate abandonment.

Modern gateways have ceased to be mere integrations. They concentrate strategic data on approval rates, rejection rates, purchasing behavior, and the performance of each method, offering visibility that was previously trapped with acquirers or scattered across parallel systems. This information directly impacts marketing and performance decisions: it reveals bottlenecks, adjusts conversion expectations, helps calibrate campaigns, and allows for more realistic funnel analysis. Market performance studies released by acquirers such as Cielo, Stone, and Getnet, in addition to technical surveys by Abecs, show that the difference between an optimized payment infrastructure and one without any adjustments can reach up to 15% in card transaction approval rates—an impact that completely changes the outcome of digital campaigns.

At the same time, the choice of provider communicates positioning. Compatibility with platforms, fees, anti-fraud mechanisms, and the variety of accepted methods influence both operations and consumer perception. In a country where cards, boleto, Pix, digital wallets, and payment links coexist in the same cart, limiting options means losing potential sales. And the very appearance of the checkout reinforces credibility at the moment the consumer decides to purchase. This trust reduces anxiety and increases the efficiency of media investment, as fewer customers abandon at the final stage.

On mobile, this impact intensifies. As a large portion of purchases occurs via smartphone, recent features, such as proximity Pix, raise expectations for speed and simplicity. But they only fully deliver when supported by a modern, stable, and well-integrated infrastructure. Innovation appears on the surface, but what sustains the good experience is the gateway.

Given this reality, it is crucial for managers to rigorously reassess their payment providers. It is necessary to evaluate costs, accepted methods, settlement periods, and, above all, access to transactional data that can interface with marketing. However, improving the infrastructure is not enough: the consumer needs to perceive it. Clear messages about security and speed, along with the presence of trustworthy visual elements at checkout, reinforce the feeling that the brand offers a consistent and professional experience.

The debate about proximity Pix reinforces the direction in which the market is heading and connects all these points. Payment infrastructure has ceased to be a layer distant from strategy and now directly influences competitiveness, conversion, and brand perception. As new technologies emerge and pressure for efficiency increases, decisions once seen as merely technical now shape business results. Brands that understand this shift and integrate payment into the core of the digital experience will be better equipped to turn innovation into a real advantage in Brazilian e-commerce.

*An e-commerce and consumer experience specialist, Alan Ribeiro has been analyzing digital strategies and tracking online retail trends for over a decade. He is dedicated to studying how technology, purchasing behavior, and operational efficiency can transform results and foster customer loyalty in the virtual environment.