Trasnformação digital: adoção e impacto nos resultados financeiros dos investimentos em tecnologia em três varejistas brasileiras

Abstract

When analyzing the contemporary context of Brazilian retail companies, it is noted that the challenge of Digital Transformation is a constant reality in the sector, impacted by technological evolution, digital channels and the emergence of new operating formats. However, there is a latent question, whether in fact all this change and incorporation of new formats of operation in the market connotes perpetuity and return to the business, given its investments and impacts on the results of the organizations evaluated. The adoption of new technologies added to the current model, including new digital channels, accelerated by the Coronavirus pandemic, the need for retail companies to present themselves as promoters of data and information to the industries that permeate them, shows the need and urgency of these organizations to facing the limitations and difficulties imposed by the business transformation process as the core of strategies that aim to transition from a conventional model to a digital model. The present study aims to analyze the impact of investments in technology and strategic decision-making in the period from 2018 to 2022, on the results of three publicly traded companies in the Brazilian retail sector (Magazine Luiza, Americanas and Via Varejo). For this dissertation, a data collection was carried out in organizational documents, especially the financial and accounting reports issued by the retailers themselves, and available to the public, on their investor relations websites. Institutional reports that presented information between 2018 and 2022, relevant to the needs of this research, were used. The data analyzed allowed us to conclude that the three retailers made investments in technology even before the pandemic period, as in 2018 it was possible to verify large investments in this account. As the pandemic evolved, and with its consequences, there was a demand for more remote commerce, causing companies to invest more resources in technology, in the development of infrastructure to meet customer demands. The strategic decisions that had an impact, both in the decisions to strengthen digital channels and in the investment of resources in technology, resulted in an increase in sales and, therefore, in business revenues. This was identified in the three retailers, including an increase in revenue from sales through digital channels and, at times, drops in sales in physical stores. The results, therefore, show that the strategy of investing in technology and digital channels is part of the reality of organizations, which is an event that was already happening before the Covid-19 pandemic, but which was accentuated depending on the needs of that historic moment that accelerated Digital Transformation in companies and society.