The new retail dilemma: where & how & how to sell now?

The expansion of digital channels has transformed what was an operational decision into one of the main strategic dilemmas of retail. If before it was enough to balance e-commerce itself and marketplaces, the advancement of social commerce added a third, more dynamic and content-driven front, where discovery, engagement and conversion happen in the same place and within seconds.

This movement has led retailers to recalibrate their digital presence strategies, considering variables such as margin, acquisition cost, audience profile and control over data. The central issue is no longer just presence and gains more strategic contours, linked to the function of each channel in the operation and the direct impacts on efficiency and profitability.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) handled R$ 19.4 billion in sales in the second quarter of 2025, considering their own stores and marketplaces, according to LWSA data. The volume highlights the relevance of these channels, but also the need for greater precision in choices when spraying consumer touchpoints.

“Marketplaces bring scale, own e-commerce ensures margin and control, and the social commerce the error is to treat all three of them in the same way. Each one responds to a distinct logic of value generation”, says Alexandre Mendes, CMO Partner at Lope Digital Commerce.

No social commerce, platforms combine entertainment, influence and buying in a single journey, reducing steps and encouraging impulse decisions.This dynamic is underpinned by trust: a Nielsen study indicates that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from people who follow on social networks more than traditional advertisements.

Features such as native checkout, in which the consumer finalizes the purchase without leaving the platform, and the live commerce, which combines live streaming and real-time offer, show how this model compresses the journey to a few clicks.

Acquisition cost, however, tends to be more volatile, influenced by algorithms, content seasonality, and creator performance, which requires more frequent monitoring and less reliance on a single channel.

In contrast, traditional e-commerce operates in a more rational and structured logic, in which the consumer searches, compares and decides with more time and intention. Marketplaces concentrate this dynamic around price, with highly competitive environments in which visibility depends on the positioning of supply and volume of evaluations.

Each channel requires distinct approaches to pricing, communication and operation, as well as different levels of investment and expected return.For retail, this implies abandoning indiscriminate expansion in favor of a more disciplined portfolio, built from deliberate choices and aligned with business strategy.

“In practice, the retailer that tries to be everywhere at the same time ends up not dominating anywhere. Margin falls, operation complicates and the brand loses consistency. The gain is in choosing well, not in choosing too much”, says the executive.

The new retail dilemma is the ability to orchestrate sales channels in an integrated manner, balancing reach, profitability and building customer relationships.