A record 16.5 million promotions in 2025 highlight intensifying competition, but retailers are increasingly betting on customer data as their main competitive weapon, according to Valor International.
Brazil’s retail sector has entered a new phase of competitive pressure, with promotional activity reaching 16.5 million offers year-to-date in 2025 — up 72% from 2019, according to data from Shopping Brasil. That is equivalent to one offer for every 16 individuals.
Yet despite the surge in promotions, retailers are scaling back the most aggressive formats — such as “buy X, pay Y” and other multi-unit discounts — precisely the types of campaigns that tend to exert the greatest pressure on margins.
From discounts to margin management
“Buy X, pay Y” deals dropped from 7.2% to 4.8% over the past year, while percentage discounts tied to multiple-unit purchases fell from 9.4% to 6.4%. In contrast, loyalty program offers effectively absorbed that share, rising from 63% to 70% of total promotions in 2025 — the only category to post growth.
The shift reflects mounting competition and the need for more strategic margin management. Broad-based discounts can quickly drive foot traffic but weigh on profitability. Loyalty programs, by contrast, allow retailers to design more targeted campaigns, stimulate demand more efficiently, and avoid wasting resources on ineffective markdowns.
“Data is one of the most important assets in retail today,”
said Renata Gonzalez, commercial director at Shopping Brasil, noting that customer data enables segmentation, more efficient actions, and more strategic negotiations with suppliers.
Competition intensifies across formats
The record volume of promotions is partly linked to the expansion of the cash-and-carry segment, which typically operates with prices 5% to 15% below conventional supermarkets. Its share of total promotional actions jumped from 14% in 2021 to 33% in 2025. Supermarkets also increased their share, while hypermarkets saw a sharp decline.
Major players are stepping up investments in pricing actions. Atacadão, the country’s largest cash-and-carry chain, recently said it intensified promotional activity in late 2025 to support sales volumes. The second-largest operator, Assaí, launched a campaign featuring limited-time offers across 30 categories.
At the same time, international groups are strengthening data integration strategies. Carrefour announced the unification of its loyalty programs in Brazil under a single brand, consolidating the customer databases of Atacadão, Carrefour and Sam’s in a bid to enhance analytics capabilities.
“The game is no longer exclusively about price"
Industry executives say competition has become more complex. Although inflation slowed to 4.26% in 2025 — the lowest rate since 2018 — consumers still perceive prices as high and remain skeptical of promotional campaigns.
Marcelo Pimentel, former CEO of GPA and Marisa, argues that “the game is no longer exclusively about price.” Retailers achieving more sustainable growth are those leveraging customer data with greater precision. Through loyalty programs, companies identify customers via their taxpayer registry number, map purchasing behavior based on transaction history, and design individualized commercial conditions — often sharing data with suppliers.
“We measure everything we do. The more relevant I am to the customer, the more they buy from me, and the stronger the long-term relationship, the more sustainable and profitable that relationship becomes,”
said Maria Cristina Merçon, GPA’s chief marketing, loyalty, and customer officer, adding that the “state of the art in this process will be hyper-personalization” of offers.
As a result, Brazil’s retail competition is gradually shifting away from traditional price wars toward analytics-driven strategies. Mass promotions are giving way to targeted campaigns, and effective customer data management is emerging as the decisive competitive edge.
Source: Valor International
