Hyper-personalization and digitization of payments redefine strategies in Brazilian retail, says study by Celcoin

The digital revolution in Brazilian retail is underway and gaining new contours with the consolidation and combination of two major trends: the hyper-personalization of the shopping experience and the integration of financial services to sales channels. According to the whitepaper “O Futuro do Varejo”, prepared by Celcoin & 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 to adapt retail 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.“A hyperpersonalization and digitalization are more than trends; they are imperative for the future of retail.”

Faced with an increasingly demanding, multichannel and convenience-seeking consumer, Brazilian retail has the opportunity and the need to reinvent itself hyperpersonalization it is no longer just a competitive advantage 76% has become a requirement of consumers. According to a McKinsey study, cited in the report, 71% of customers expect a high level of customization, 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 to allow payment with facial recognition in its physical stores for C&A Pay users, and has registered an increase in the number of sales by the modality. The global forecast is that the use of the service will have a compound annual growth of 620T between 20202 and Payments of the Master.

The survey also points out that 53% of consumers are directly influenced by flexibility in payment methodsdata from the E-Commerce Radar reveal that the limitation of options is still one of the main reasons for the abandonment of carts in Brazilian e-commerce, demonstrating the urgency of adaptation by retailers.

Moreover, a financial services integration renner, through its Realize unit, saw its revenue grow with the supply of credit and aggregate products. Already Mercado Livre, which is strongly betting on solutions such as Pix Parcelado and BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later), observed a growth of 51% in the consumer credit portfolio, which reached US$ 4.9 billion in the second quarter of 2024. There were 25 million purchases financed and 13 million customers who used pre-approved credit to install their acquisitions.

Pix and digitization of services

The study also highlights the exponential advance of the Pix as a financial inclusion toolin the first half of 2024, the solution registered 69 billion transactions, with movement of R$ 12 trillion. The Pix in installments emerges as a viable alternative to traditional credit, expanding access to consumers who were previously on the margins of the financial system. In just one day, the Central Bank recorded 220 million transactions via Pix, moving R$ 119.4 billion.
 

The growth of digitisation it is also present in the use of smartphones as a banking channel. In 2023, transactions via mobile grew 22% compared to the previous year, totaling 130.7 billion operations. And this convenience is shaping expectations: 18% of consumers want to complete payment in just a few clicks, according to the Retail Report 2024 of Adyen.
 

Despite all this progress, a digital security brazil, however, stands out for its use of authentication technologies: 30% of consumers already use biometrics to make payments, well above the global average of 18%. This adherence contributes to increasing consumer confidence in digital solutions, reducing barriers to the adoption of new methods.