With a 4.4% increase in the fifth bimester of 2024 compared to the same period last year, Brazilian retail foresees maintaining the growth pace for 2025. This is shown by the report presented by IBGE in the second week of December. Among the activities that showed significant growth in the period are the sectors of fabrics, clothing, and footwear (5.7%), personal and household articles (5.2%), and furniture and appliances (4.9%).
These numbers could be even higher in 2025, explains Flavia Mardegan, a specialist in sales and commercial strategic planning. According to Flavia, the more the sector is attentive to global changes and trends, the better the results will be. “We are in a practically unprecedented period in human history with five generations actively interacting, consuming the most varied products and in the most diverse ways. Each one with its peculiarities, demands, and desires. Those who do not pay attention to this will be left behind,” she states.
This peculiar scenario never seen in the world before demands a lot of attention from those working in retail, from the entrepreneur to the salesperson, says the specialist. According to Mardegan, the concern of retail has always been to sell more efficiently and on a large scale. However, the movement now is reversed, with companies having to deeply understand the consumer to not only offer him the best cost-benefit but also to build loyalty. “The keyword is personalization. Retail has understood that the era of ‘one size fits all’ is over,” she adds.
Another point observed by the specialist is the need to adapt physical stores to this context, with the help of strategies such as customer experience (CX), or customer experience, which should be as positive as possible; customer success (CS), or overall customer satisfaction; and omnichannel, which is the provision of multiple channels for customers for purchase, connection, and relationship. ‘The same retail that serves a more conservative person who prefers to go to the cashier line to pay for their purchase also serves people who are technology lovers and use virtual dressing rooms, for example. It is this broad view that is in vogue in the world today,’ she concludes.
By 2025, the forecast is that retail will invest even more, not only in new configurations of their physical selling points but also in how they view their multiple types of customers.
