The digital revolution in Brazilian retail is underway and takes on new shapes with the consolidation and combination of two major trends: hyper-personalization of the shopping experience and the integration of financial services into sales channels. According to the whitepaper ‘The Future of Retail,’ prepared by Celcoin – a financial infrastructure company – the intelligent use of data, combined with the adoption of innovative payment technologies, is shaping a new era for commerce in Brazil, one of the most dynamic markets in the world.
‘The trends revealed in our study highlight the need for retail to adapt to the new expectations of customers. Therefore, at Celcoin, our mission is to help companies navigate through these transformations with solutions that boost both the customer experience and operational efficiency,’ says Adriano Meirinho, CMO and co-founder of Celcoin. ‘Hyper-personalization and digitalization are more than trends; they are imperatives for the future of retail.’
In the face of an increasingly demanding, multichannel, and convenience-seeking consumer, Brazilian retail has the opportunity – and the necessity – to reinvent itself. Hyperpersonalization is no longer just a competitive advantage – it has become a consumer requirement. According to a study by McKinsey cited in the report, 71% of customers expect a high level of personalization, while 76% get frustrated when this expectation is not met. Retail is responding to this demand with solutions that combine convenience and flexibility. For example, C&A now allows facial recognition payments in its physical stores for C&A Pay users, and has seen an increase in sales through this method. The global forecast is that the service will have a compound annual growth rate of 62% between 2022 and 2030, as indicated in the Mastercard report.
The research also shows that 53% of consumers are directly influenced by flexibility in payment methods. Data from E-Commerce Radar show that the limited options are still one of the main reasons for cart abandonment in Brazilian e-commerce, demonstrating the urgency for retailers to adapt.
Furthermore, the integration of financial services also has a direct impact on results. Renner, through its Realize unit, saw revenue growth with the offering of credit and related products. Meanwhile, Mercado Livre, which heavily invests in solutions like Pix Parcelado and BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later), saw a 51% growth in the consumer credit portfolio, reaching $4.9 billion in the second quarter of 2024. There were 25 million financed purchases and 13 million customers who used pre-approved credit to finance their purchases.
Digitalization and scanning of services
The study also highlights the exponential advancement of Pix as a financial inclusion tool. In the first semester of 2024, the solution recorded 69 billion transactions, with a turnover of R$ 12 trillion. Installment Pix emerges as a viable alternative to traditional credit, expanding access for consumers who were previously outside the financial system. In just one day, the Central Bank recorded 220 million transactions via Pix, moving R$ 119.4 billion.
The growth of digitalization is also evident in the use of smartphones as a banking channel. In 2023, transactions via mobile phones increased by 22% compared to the previous year, totaling 130.7 billion operations. And this convenience is shaping expectations: 18% of consumers want to complete the payment in just a few clicks, according to the Adyen Retail Report 2024.
Despite all this progress, digital security remains a sensitive point. Brazil, however, stands out for the use of authentication technologies: 30% of consumers already use biometrics to make payments, a number well above the global average of 18%. This adoption helps increase consumer confidence in digital solutions, reducing barriers to the adoption of new methods.
