The online shopping segment is one of the most efficient in recent years. To give an idea, in 2024, Brazilian e-commerce moved over R$204 billion, representing a 10.5% increase compared to 2023. These are data from ABComm, which also indicates that by 2025, the expected revenue will reach R$224.7 billion, with a 10% increase.

With technological advancements, more complex shopping journeys, and increasingly demanding consumers, the act of selling online goes far beyond just delivering services and products. And this is where requirements such as data, automation, personalization, and integrated channels come into play. Today, these are the essential pillars for those who want not only to survive but to thrive and stand out in e-commerce.

For you, dear reader, to understand a little better, I will explain these points:

• Dados: Data can be considered the new fuels for online retail. That's why companies that invest in analytics are able to better understand their customers' profiles, forecast demand, optimize inventories, and create more effective campaigns. It is precisely through data that managers are able to make faster and more efficient decisions, especially in an increasingly fast-paced world.
  
• Automation:Here I start by emphasizing that automation does not mean 'coldness' or detachment. Automation, when well implemented, goes precisely in the opposite direction. Through it, managers can free up teams to focus on strategies and creativity, while robots handle the operational tasks;
  
• Hyper-personalization:As I mentioned at the beginning of this text, consumers are becoming increasingly demanding, and this has led to a high demand for more personalized services, products, and campaigns. Therefore, more than a technological issue, customization is a strategic choice, as it is through it that brands can generate connection and campaigns with their target audience, and increase engagement with their brand/company and, consequently, the number of loyal customers;
  
• Multichannel:You are impacted by a TV campaign, start researching a bit more on the internet, check the brand's reputation on different platforms, talk to other customers via WhatsApp, and finally go to the physical store to make a purchase. This is just one example of how the buying journey is no longer linear. Therefore, it is extremely important to engage and keep the customer active;

Finally, it is a fact that online retail has undergone many transformations, and believe it or not, we will have even more incredible news in the coming years. The proposal, in general, is to attract, engage, and turn customers into fans and brand ambassadors. Think about it!

Previously restricted to major players in the digital market, affiliate marketing has been gaining ground among companies of all sizes. The model, previously associated with complex structures and high investments, now stands out as an affordable, scalable, and performance-oriented alternative. For small and medium-sized businesses, it represents a real opportunity to generate measurable results with greater predictability.

In practice, the concept today functions as a kind of decentralization of the sales force: brands create programs and invite partners, called affiliates, focusing on promoting their products in exchange for performance-based commissions. This dynamic offers a clear advantage for those who need to grow with a controlled budget: payment only occurs when there is a conversion, whether a click, lead, or sale. Based on this premise, it is a logic that fits any size of business, as long as it is well-structured.

In the case of SMEs, the most common and promising approach has been to invest, for example, in partnerships with niche content creators and micro-influencers. This is because they are people with high engagement in specific communities, capable of generating qualified traffic without requiring significant investments. On the other hand, for larger companies, the adoption of more comprehensive technological platforms becomes more common, including white-label programs and integration with data systems and CRM, enabling a multitude of affiliates to be connected and have their performance analyzed automatically.

Furthermore, it is worth highlighting that the social impact of affiliate marketing is significant, as anyone can participate in this modality as long as they are part of an affiliate platform and have a cell phone with internet to promote their purchase links. This directly contributes to the democratization of access to income generation, especially in a challenging economic scenario like Brazil's, where millions of people seek alternatives to supplement their earnings.

Market data also confirm this movement. In 2023, affiliate marketing generated more than $14 billion worldwide, according to Influencer Marketing Hub. In Brazil alone, there are already more than 30 million people registered on platforms like Hotmart — making us the second-largest country in this segment.

The heated sector is easily explained. According to Business Insider, affiliate marketing can contribute around 16% of the total revenue generated through digital marketing campaigns – a significant amount considering not only conversion but also customer retention.However, we cannot simplify the situation solely based on the financial aspect. The increasing sophistication of platforms has also helped. Today, thanks to technology, it is possible to segment campaigns, monitor channels, compare affiliate performance, ensure transparent compensation, and most importantly, optimize the entire operation based on real data. And of course, the social issue also gains special prominence when we talk about the digital economy.

According to a Mediakix survey, 81% of brands investing in this model claim to have significantly increased their customer base. This shows that the strategy goes beyond direct conversion — it also drives brand awareness and long-term visibility, something that was often overlooked when it came to the performance of affiliates. Moreover, unlike other media fronts, the growth is accompanied by complete control over the budget and predictability of results.

Demystifying affiliate marketing as an exclusive resource for big players is essential to democratize access to strategies that truly deliver results. Today, companies of all sectors and sizes are adopting the format, from large online retailers to small local producers. Whether to sell more, gain visibility, or even attract new audiences, the model has already proven to be a powerful tool — and, above all, adaptable to any type of business.

Consumers are exhausted from impersonal, generic, and fragmented communications. We live in an era of digital fatigue, where we are overwhelmed with notifications and stimuli that cause us to go from enthusiastic customers to saturated users. If, in the past, the novelty was being digital, today, the corporate challenge is to be relevant to your target audience, which requires companies to adopt a new, more strategic perspective in this relationship, breaking down the barriers of digital fatigue and turning this fatigue into assertive sales and greater value generation in the products or services offered.

According to data released by McKinsey & Company, 71% of consumers expect personalized interactions from companies. However, 76% become frustrated when this does not happen, since only about 24% of brands deliver truly personalized experiences in the consumer's perception. The result? Faced with many alternatives, consumers tend to limit the number of options analyzed, based on the differentiators presented to them.

Many end up preferring, for example, to choose already known or recommended brands, even if they have to pay a little more for it, ignoring information they consider irrelevant or complex. Your sense of deadline and urgency is also usually a decisive criterion in this matter, prioritizing brands that meet this timing. Furthermore, everything that is exclusive or that conveys a sense of scarcity in access tends to arouse greater interest in this selection.

In addition to being influenced by major brands and people, all the factors highlighted above end up gaining strength in their decision-making process, given the excess of information they receive daily – which can lead to selective disengagement by consumers, such as ignoring generic communications, canceling subscriptions, silencing notifications, and consequently directly impacting the monetization strategy of any company that relies on digital journeys to sell, engage, or serve.

The market needs to go beyond selling technology, focusing on delivering real business results for each of its clients. After all, corporate growth will not come solely from scaling channels or increasing volume. The true differentiator lies in helping consumers overcome digital fatigue with smarter, more efficient, and personalized journeys. This means monetizing not only through message delivery but also through the impact generated on the end user's experience.

The era of digital fatigue demands a new stance from companies. Winning in this scenario doesn't depend on speaking louder, but on speaking better, which requires technology, intelligence, and strategy. Transform each interaction into a valuable connection, and each product into an experience that truly is worth it. Something that, in order to bring the expected success, will require the creation of shorter and more intuitive engagement journeys, developing products that help the customer decide, not just receive information.

Products invested in this direction should include SaaS journey solutions that enable multi-channel communication orchestration with logic, context, and efficiency – reducing noise and increasing relevance. Go beyond the text itself, building intelligent end-to-end service, sales, and notification flows, with a human interface and context within a single integrated ecosystem that provides the appropriate services from start to finish.

Contributing even more to this assertiveness, there are many autonomous agents (AI) capable of automating this journey without dehumanizing the service, allowing interactions that learn and evolve with the user – a direct antidote to robotic communication that wears down the digital experience. These technologies will facilitate the use of customers' behavioral and historical data to create increasingly personalized and actionable campaigns.

Overcoming this barrier of digital fatigue is not something simple in the current era we live in. To achieve greater success in this fight, it is important to rely on the guidance of specialized players who provide platforms that orchestrate this communication chain, with robust channels capable of supporting these strategies.

It is more urgent than ever for companies to mitigate digital fatigue risks in their clients by providing comprehensive solutions that deliver real value in every interaction between the parties, in order to avoid a direct impact on their revenue. Enormous efforts, but certainly, they will bring excellent results for a more prosperous and trusting relationship with your consumers.