One in three consumers already combines physical stores and e-commerce when purchasing, according to research

A common scene in stores, that of the consumer who enters, asks, researches the price, checks the product closely and then leaves the establishment to make the purchase online, reveals a habit that is being incorporated once and for all by the Brazilian public.

In the country, 30% of consumers combine in-person and e-commerce when making a purchase, according to the research “Fiserv Insights 2026 – Retail Panorama: Trends in Payment Methods, Security and Credit”.

This and other data from the study signal the following to retailers: omnichannel (or omnicalidade, in the Portuguese translation) must integrate not only the contact and communication channels with customers. Integration must include the convergence between physical and online, advises Business Intelligence specialist Alberto Filho, founder and CEO of Poli Digital, an omnichannel platform that is the official partner in Brazil and Latin America of Grupo Meta (WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook).

Fiserv Insights 2026, carried out in partnership with Opinion Box, shows that only 17% of consumers still prefer purchasing in a physical store in its entirety. The survey brings up reasons that “turn away” consumers from face-to-face relationships, the main one, in the opinion of the majority of interviewees (56%), is the lower price online. Other 42% cite long queues for payment. Difficulties in access, parking, lack of product in stock and not locating the desired product are among the points cited as obstacles.

For Alberto Filho, data like this portray an increasingly demanding consumer profile. Changing consumer habits and constant technological innovations make the market increasingly dynamic, and companies must pay attention to this. “Those that do not invest in full integration between digital and physical media run the risk of being left behind”, he warns.

The expert explains that, although consumers are not familiar with the concept of omnicality, in practice it is this integration of contacts and physical and digital channels that they seek and satisfy.

In this sense, a survey this year carried out by WhatsApp, from Grupo Meta, provides data that confirms the Poli executive's findings. According to the survey, 35.4% of consumers interviewed consider “the possibility of managing all company interactions in one place to be valuable”. Furthermore, 42.2% of them also consider the possibility of preserving conversation history when using a messaging application to be “valuable”.

The study states: “There is a growing consumer desire for integrated communications. However, the challenge for business leaders lies in delivering a connected experience across departments and customer touchpoints.”.

The WhatsApp survey reinforces what was verified by another survey by Opinion Box, “Omnichannelality in Brazil: data and insights into the perception and desires of the Brazilian consumer in an omnichannel scenario”, carried out in partnership with Bornlogic.

In this, 90% of those interviewed stated that they expect companies to have an integrated customer service strategy across all sales channels. Furthermore, 71% requires immediate service, whether online or in a physical store.

“Consumers may not even know what ‘omnichannel’ means, and the same survey says that 83% does not know. But, when explained about the concept, 64% recognize that they have already made a purchase through this integration of service channels, and 65% declare that the experience must be the same in all channels, whether online or offline”, points out Alberto Filho, from Poli.

The CEO highlights that, although the habit of shopping online is consolidated (a brief observation in condominium entrances, full of deliveries, is a thermometer to measure this), consumers cannot do without visiting physical stores. Therefore, the specialist emphasizes, these units must be integrated with digital channels, so that the experience offered to the customer is complete. “There can be no barriers between the physical and the digital”, he warns.

For the retailer, promoting integration consists of connecting systems and journeys. This includes, for example, unifying stocks between physical stores and e-commerce, allowing customers to buy online and collect at the point of sale; integrate behavioral data to personalize offers regardless of channel; and ensure that sellers have access to consumer history in real time.

“It also involves solutions such as infinite shelves, integrated payments and the use of applications that connect the experience inside and outside the store. In other words, integration is not just technological, it is operational and strategic. When well implemented, it eliminates friction, increases conversion and improves the perception of brand value”, says Alberto Filho.

This integration should also provide companies with monitoring of consumer profiles and behavior. “But this monitoring alone is not enough. The omnichannel strategy must be able to anticipate the consumer's needs and demands, in order to fully satisfy them. In this way, loyalty and results for the company are increased”, explains the specialist. Among Poli Digital's customer base, the increase in revenue provided by the platform can reach up to 30%, illustrates the CEO.

In practice, Poli's omnichannel or omnicality platform has, among its features, the centralization of contacts via WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and website chat, a personalized chatbot with 24-hour service, sending mass messages via WhatsApp, scheduling the sending of messages with date and time, artificial intelligence resources for task automation and its own CRM system. Currently, the platform has more than 1,200 companies across Latin America.