Shopee has 2 million retailers in Brazil, Itaú and Totvs form a partnership and what matters in the market

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Shopee calls herself Brazilian

Shopee considers itself Brazilian. The Asian retail giant, which started selling products from national sellers in July 2020, today accumulates 2 million of these local retailers and in 2021 sold to 56% of online consumers in the country.

The company: based in Singapore, it was launched in 2015 in seven Southeast Asian countries and belongs to the Sea group, which also owns “Free Fire”.

Shopee in Brazil:

• It was the most downloaded shopping app in the country last year, with more than 100 million downloads, according to data from EmizenTech.

• It went from 1 million “sellers” (local sellers) in October 2021 to 2 million this April. Among its competitors in Brazil, Magazine Luiza has 160 thousandthe Americans, 122 thousandand the Free Market, considering all of Latin America, has 9 million.

• The company says that 87% of its sales are made by Brazilian sellers, and the remaining 13% are imported.

why it matters: Brazilian retail companies are on an offensive with the government to increase the siege on sites –especially Asian ones– that sell imported products in Brazil.

THE Sheet showed that the Federal Revenue Service is preparing an MP (provisional measure) to prevent foreign companies from selling goods to Brazilians without paying the due taxes.

commercial offensive: another Asian, fashion retailer Shein and singer Anitta announced this Monday (11) a partnership for a collection with pieces by the singer.

• Investment in marketing is a common strategy among Asian sites to gain market share here.

• Aliexpress last month launched a campaign with influencer Gkay, while Shopee has already made ads with Barões da Pisadinha and actress Larissa Manoela.

Itaú invests BRL 1 billion in Totvs fintech

Itaú will allocate up to BRL 1 billion to acquire 50% of the capital of Totvs Techfin, the fintech of the Totvs group, the largest supplier of management software for small and medium businesses in the country.

The business: the bank will pay BRL 410 million cash and will inject another R$ 250 million in fintech. A further R$ 450 million can be paid by Itaú in up to five years, upon meeting targets.

The strategy: while Totvs will pocket a good amount of money and will have Itaú’s financial services on its platform, the bank will have exclusivity in distribution and will have access to SMEs (small and medium-sized companies) Totvs customers.

• The agreement comes at a time of business growth involving the combination of financial and management services for SMEs.

What to expect from open finance:

• According to specialists and the Central Bank itself, the system should be felt by the consumer in the medium and long term, when new business models should emerge from the system.

• The initiative should also benefit small entrepreneurs, who will be able to access cheaper credit.

Inflation in the US reaches 8.5%

U.S. consumer prices, the gauge used to measure U.S. inflation, rose 1.2% in March, the highest for the month in 16 years, to 8.5% accumulated over 12 months. In that comparison, it is the highest result since 1981.

why it matters: The escalation of US inflation reinforces the market’s expectation for a rise of 0.5 percentage point at the next meeting of the Fed, the US central bank.

When interest rates rise in the US, equity markets often feel the thud of withdrawing funds into US Treasuries. Another trend is the outflow of resources from emerging markets, such as Brazil.

Repercussion: in Brazil, the Ibovespa fell 0.69%, to 116,146 points, the third consecutive low. The dollar retreated 0.34%, the BRL 4.67with investors still keeping an eye on the cycle of high interest rates in Brazil, which benefits the strategy of obtaining credit at a lower cost abroad and applying it here.

Petroleum: after retreating to a level below US$ 100 the day before, the commodity rose sharply again this Tuesday, which means continued pressure for global inflation.

Earlier tonight, Brent’s barrel was firing 6.65%a US$ 105.03 (R$488.14), with signs that China will loosen restrictions to contain Covid cases in Shanghai added to a forecast of lower demand that came from the International Energy Agency.

Services have another setback in February

The volume of the services sector fell again in February, with a decrease of 0.2% in comparison with January, informed the IBGE this Tuesday.

Of the last seven monthly results, five were negative.

In numbers: the result came well below the median of market expectations, which projected an advance of 0.7%. The sector has accumulated a 2% loss in the first two months of 2022, but is still 5.4% above the pre-pandemic level.

What pulled the fall in the month: information and communication services, which fell by 1.2%. This activity was the one that grew the most during the pandemic, and still accumulates a high of 8.6% compared to the pre-sanitary crisis period.

Inflation impact: the advance of the price index has also reached the sector and makes people stop consuming some services to prioritize basic necessities, points out the IBGE.