Almost 60% of Brazilian businesses started to invest in digital presence during the pandemic

A survey by the multinational HostGator shows that 42% of companies had increased accesses and that 64% intend to further increase investments in the online environment

It is not new to anyone that people's behavior is becoming more and more digital and that technological tools are increasingly used, especially after the start of the pandemic, which accelerated this process even more. Today, the digitization of services is essential to keep micro, small and medium-sized businesses alive — and they have already realized this. This is what the research reveals. Digital Presence gives HostGator, a website hosting multinational and online service provider: among more than 5 thousand respondents, 58% started to invest more in digital during the pandemic and, among these, 64% saw a consequent increase in sales using this format.

The survey was carried out through the platform of website hosting of HostGator and aimed to understand the perception of the digital environment for business generation by Brazilian companies. The survey covered four dimensions: Impact of the Pandemic, Investment, Investment Plans and Business Reality (pre and post Covid).

The results showed that, today, in relation to the business model, 97% of companies have a presence in the online environment, with 65% describing their performance as fully digital and 32% declaring to be present both physically and online. The pandemic was responsible for migrating all or part of the business to digital for 28% of respondents. “The expectation for the market is that internet purchases will increase more and more. Today, a person can search for information about a product, see the brand's catalog and portfolio and then go shopping at the store — integrating the digital and physical environment. The trend for the next few years is that the purchase or contracting of full and direct services through the online medium will only grow”, explains Ricardo Melo, vice president of Marketing at HostGator Américas.

This shift in consumer thinking and behavior is already being noticed by merchants as well: 64% said they intend to increase investment in online even after social distancing ends, while only 7% plan to decrease. On the other hand, the data also show that Brazilians still undertake out of necessity rather than opportunity — 34% of people indicated that they started the company during the pandemic period.

For Melo, these data show how the migration to digital has a democratic role and has become more palpable after the restrictive measures imposed by the pandemic. “The digital presence allows companies to guarantee more and more customers, with a much wider reach and with less expense in materials or people displacement. In Brazil, we still have a long way to go towards digitization, but it is clear that the reality of the last year acted as a catalyst for this transformation”, he adds.

Melo highlights that, among the main ways to ensure a good online presence, are the construction of the company's website and informative blog, registration on Google Meu Negócios, presence on the main social networks (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter), preparation of campaigns digital and email marketing usage. “Ensuring an omnichannel presence will become increasingly important as the consumer has already undergone a change of mind. No wonder that e-commerce revenues grew 411TP1Q in 2020, reaching the highest percentage since 2007, according to Webshoppers”, he details.