The digital revolution in Brazilian retail is underway and is taking on new dimensions with the consolidation and combination of two major trends: the 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, coupled 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 new customer expectations. Therefore, at Celcoin, our mission is to help companies navigate these transformations with solutions that boost both 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.”
Faced with an increasingly demanding, multichannel consumer seeking convenience, Brazilian retail has the opportunity – and the need – to reinvent itself. Hyper-personalization is no longer just a competitive advantage – it has become a consumer requirement. According to a McKinsey study cited in the report, 71% of customers expect a high level of personalization, while 76% are frustrated when this expectation is not met. Retail is responding to this demand with solutions that combine convenience and flexibility. C&A, for example, has started allowing facial recognition payments in its physical stores for C&A Pay users and has recorded an increase in sales through this method. The global forecast is that the use of the service will have a compound annual growth rate of 62% between 2022 and 2030, as indicated in Mastercard's "The Future of Payments" report.
The research also indicates that 53% of consumers are directly influenced by the flexibility in payment methods . Data from E-Commerce Radar reveals that the limited options are still one of the main reasons for shopping cart abandonment in Brazilian e-commerce, demonstrating the urgent need for adaptation on the part of retailers.
Furthermore, the integration of financial services also shows a direct impact on results. Renner, through its Realize unit, saw its revenue grow with the offering of credit and aggregated products. Mercado Livre, which strongly invests in solutions such as Pix Parcelado and BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later), observed a 51% growth in its consumer credit portfolio, which reached US$ 4.9 billion in the second quarter of 2024. This included 25 million financed purchases and 13 million customers who used pre-approved credit to pay for their purchases in installments.
Pix and digitization of services
The study also highlights the exponential growth of Pix as a tool for financial inclusion . In the first half of 2024, the solution registered 69 billion transactions, totaling R$ 12 trillion. Pix installment payments emerge as a viable alternative to traditional credit, expanding access for consumers who were previously marginalized from the financial system. In just one day, the Central Bank registered 220 million transactions via Pix, totaling R$ 119.4 billion.
The growth of digitalization is equally evident in the use of smartphones as a banking channel. In 2023, mobile transactions grew by 22% compared to the previous year, totaling 130.7 billion operations. And this convenience is shaping expectations: 18% of consumers want to complete payments in just a few clicks, according to Adyen's 2024 Retail Report.
Despite all this progress, digital security remains a sensitive issue. Brazil, however, stands out for its use of authentication technologies: 30% of consumers already use biometrics to make payments, a number well above the global average of 18%. This adoption contributes to increasing consumer confidence in digital solutions, reducing barriers to the adoption of new methods.
