The adoption of new technologies in the retail sector has become increasingly essential to generate value, operational efficiency, and market competitiveness in businesses, such as consumer goods companies.The topic was discussed by Andrés Stella, COO of Yalo, and Livia Seabra, Director of E-commerce and Emerging Channels at Mondelēz Brazil, at the panel "New Technologies in Value Generation" at APAS Show 2025, exploring how artificial intelligence and omnichannel strategies are reshaping the relationship and the way of selling in B2B through WhatsApp. With this, technological innovations have enhanced the salesperson's performance as an allied force in results, with a 34% increase in the average purchase ticket in physical space directly with the distributor, in addition to the growth of sales made through digital channels.
The advancement of using AI agents to automate and personalize the shopping journey, especially on platforms where small and medium retail is already present, reveals the strategy adopted by Mondelēz Brazil, aimed at boosting productivity through a resource that is so powerful and common for the Brazilian population. "Sales on WhatsApp will not replace physical salespeople. The trend is to grow, but also to transform the distributor's salesperson from order taker to sales leader, boosting their average ticket, focusing on execution, categories, stockouts, building relationships, and analyzing less sold products for efficient business management. Technology is here to add value and strengthen retail sales, implementing omnichannel strategies for greater capture and AI agents for optimization and personalization of the experience," reveals Livia.
This performance is even more impressive with the recent launch of Yalo: the Oris. Presented as the first intelligent sales agent, the technology introduces a new type of "digital employee" designed to replicate the best human salespeople, operating at scale and data-driven. The agent is capable of understanding voice messages, making strategic recommendations, acting proactively, and selling in a contextualized, personalized, and scalable manner across any channel, including voice calls and WhatsApp. Throughout the panel, companies revealed that the digitization of traditional channels has impacted the market in an agile and efficient way, from large industry brands to small neighborhood retailers who have not yet implemented other digital tools in their processes due to reasons such as investment, uncertainty, and lack of knowledge. Furthermore, the artificial intelligence integrated into the platforms enables more direct communication aligned with different consumer profiles, avoiding friction during the journey.
With our partnership at Mondelēz Brazil, we boosted the company's B2B sales by over 15% via WhatsApp. I often hear that retailers are looking to digitize their customers, but the truth is they are already highly digitalized, and the challenge is to find them on the right channels where they are present and active. With the advent of new technologies, we do not reduce the workforce; we enhance and strengthen it. Where to start? The first step is to experience, test, adapt, explore — and then implement in a consistent and coherent manner with your business, achieving your strategically planned goals in the action plan," explains Andrés.
The launch of Oris reinforces the view that technology acts as an allied, not substitutive, force for salespeople. The digital employee has the capacity to triple conversion rates compared to traditional e-commerce and increase the average ticket by up to 40%, optimizing the end customer's purchase journey and enabling human salespeople to perform more elaborate, creative, and strategic activities.
"Innovations have arrived to support us, just like the integration of sales channels. Of course, there are obstacles, but it is by facing them that we can evolve, improve processes, increase sales, unite workforces, team members, customers, and partners, and then bring the business closer to success in its fullness. Transformation requires action; not just openness to the new, but practically experiencing the significant advantages of new technologies, which can truly transform an operation," concludes Andrés Stella.
