WhatsApp is the main technological tool in use among the smallest Brazilian businesses – ahead of platforms such as management software and e-commerce systems, research has found.
The survey, conducted by Italian management software firm Zucchetti and the trade union entity Fecomércio Santa Catarina in Brazil, aimed to understand the impact of technology tools on the everyday operations of Brazil’s small and micro businesses. It collected responses from 323 retailers across Brazil, with 56% being microenterprises and 22.5% small businesses.
Some 82% of those polled use WhatsApp as their primary communications tool, followed by social media at 74%. When it comes to customer communications, 96% use WhatsApp, while 76% still use the telephone, and social media ranks third at 59%. However, the study noted that physical points of sale account for 82% of actual sales, followed by social media, at 57%.
Brazil is the third largest market for WhatsApp after India and Indonesia. According to a separate study with 2075 respondents by consumer insights firm Opinion Box, 79% of respondents said they communicate with companies through WhatsApp. Some 77% of respondents say answering questions and/or asking for information are the main purposes for communicating with a company via WhatsApp, followed by technical support (69%) and receiving offers via WhatsApp (51%).
Other tools frequently used in the everyday running of Brazilian businesses include stock management systems, cited by 41% of the respondents of the Zucchetti study, followed by point-of-sale systems (41%) and receivables and payables systems (38%). Full enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms account for 33% of all responses, while e-commerce systems have been cited by only 10% of those polled.
“Digital presence, previously considered a competitive advantage [for businesses], has become a unique alternative for survival. And of course, those who suffered the most from all this were small retailers, where, for the most part, this didn’t even exist,” says Wagner Muller, head of retail at Zucchetti.
“This race for subsistence brought many challenges to these entrepreneurs, including operational and technical, but mainly cultural hurdles,” Muller adds.
In relation to the challenges involved in the adoption of tech tools, the main issues identified by the study include the high cost of tools (27%), lack of skilled labor (19%), and difficulties in developing a technology usage strategy (15%).
Beyond the tools that are most frequently used by the smallest Brazilian businesses, the survey delved into the types of technologies employed across different functions. In admin and finance, 43% said they use simple tools such as spreadsheets and documents, while 39% use management systems, and 6% don’t use any system for that side of the business.
When it comes to people management, 19% do not use technology at all, while 33% use basic tools, and 14% have management software in place. Some 44% of logistics and inventory functions reported the use of management software, while 30% rely on spreadsheets. Marketing and sales had the lowest technology use, the study noted, with 36% using basic tools and 22% opting to use software.
