Are You Ready? Keeping Pace With Consumer Demand for Technology in Brazil

Consumer demand for technology in Brazil is strong and growing.  Accenture shares insights from its research and experience in the region, and the key imperatives for success there.

Brazilian consumers show robust demand for technologies, and for the lifestyle experiences these technologies offer.  However, Accenture’s research and experience show that technology service and equipment providers may face challenges tapping into this demand.  To overcome these obstacles, companies must consider several critical imperatives, from product innovation and the customer experience to talent development and cloud computing.

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Brazil’s rapid rise from an underdeveloped and inflation-ridden economy to a new world power has been astonishing, and Brazil is well positioned for continued growth. It is rich in natural resources, including oil, and today it is the world’s largest producer of sugar, coffee, oranges, beef and poultry. In addition, many global enterprises already are flourishing in Brazil and it is home to numerous growing multinationals, including Embraer, the world leader in the design and manufacture of regional jets.
 
Perhaps most importantly, Brazil's economic growth has given rise to a more powerful and wealthy consumer base, with growing demand for housing and for an array of goods and services, including consumer technologies.  In fact, Brazil’s consumer electronics device market is estimated at $28.1 billion in 2011, and demand is expected to increase by 8.1 percent through 2015.
 
Our research confirms that Brazil’s economic growth has inspired substantial consumer technologies ownership, purchase rates and purchase intentions among consumers of all ages across the country—on par with or greater than those of other countries around the world.

Technology companies serving Brazil have specific, and lofty, requirements to meet:  Seventy-two percent of Brazilians think it is important to own the most innovative brands, 83 percent would pay more for environmentally friendly products, and sustainability was far more important to Brazilians than to others.
 
And while Brazilians value retail stores more than others and are likelier to view the quality of the store experience as a major factor in their purchase decision, they are less satisfied than others with the physical retail channel and with support services.  Clearly, for many retailers keeping pace with the rapid growth in Brazilian demand has been a struggle.

IT in Brazil is struggling to keep up as well. Consumer Internet services have changed how Brazilian employees access and use technology in the workplace, particularly for millennials, who are very willing to wander outside corporate IT boundaries.  This presents significant challenges in terms of data security, scalability, cost management and data governance.
 
Beyond these stresses on product innovation, retail, service and corporate IT faced by individual companies, rapid growth also is placing stress on Brazil’s infrastructure. Indeed, Brazil’s public sector is in the midst of addressing numerous challenges—such as lagging physical and broadband infrastructure, a challenging regulatory environment and a tough labor market—all of which are prerequisites to continued technology-sector growth.

Enterprises planning their growth strategies for Brazil should consider the following imperatives:

• Differentiate through a tailored customer experience.

• Leverage and capitalize upon employees’ use of new technologies.

• Utilize technology such as the cloud to drive growth.

• Rethink innovation strategy and leadership, the translation of customer insights into new ideas, and innovation sources.

• When investing in talent, use analytics, make learning an ongoing capability and process and creatively source to find the right skills.