How Casas Bahia Digitalized Credit Booklets in the Pandemic
Felix Grivot details usability testing, risk management, and data-driven insights behind launching the digital payment method.
During the pandemic, Brazilian retail giant Via Varejo transitioned the traditional Casas Bahia installment booklet into the digital realm. Felix Grivot explains the challenges surrounding credit risk, consumer behavior, and usability throughout the migration process.
Digitalizing one of the most traditional payment methods in Brazilian retail required striking a careful balance between launch speed, consumer behavior, and credit risk control. In a conversation with Bruno Gimenes on Marketing - The Podcast, Felix Grivot, Head of B2B Marketing at FCamara, recalled his tenure as Product Marketing Manager at Via Varejo during the pandemic, when he led the transition from physical installment booklets to a digital solution.
The full account of the project at Casas Bahia can be seen in the video above, which is part of a broader discussion on data utilization and marketing in corporate environments.
From physical stores to a banking app
The project's main goal was migrating an established shopping habit from physical points of sale to digital channels at a time when brick-and-mortar stores faced strict operating restrictions. Grivot explains that the rollout began as a beta version restricted to internal employees before expanding gradually to a controlled group of customers leading up to Black Friday 2020, when it officially launched as a permanent payment option.
"What was the big challenge? It was turning the famous paper booklet into a digital payment method. And doing it in the middle of a pandemic," Grivot noted. The transition was also integrated into the group's digital banking strategy, requiring shoppers to complete payments through a mobile banking app.
"Think about everyday customers who used to visit the store in person to buy and pay for their installments; now they had to download a digital bank app to make those payments," Grivot pointed out. In his view, the shift aligned with the broader wave of financial inclusion among lower-income demographics accelerated by the pandemic.
Usability testing and credit risk management
The lack of historical behavioral data for installment booklets in digital channels placed default rates and risk margins at the core of product and marketing decisions. The team had to define critical operational parameters, such as whether to require a down payment and how to adapt the financing option for lower-ticket categories beyond traditional large appliances and TVs.
To validate the user experience, the team conducted hands-on tests with real customers. Grivot recalled running usability testing at Casas Bahia's flagship Store 1 in São Caetano, handing smartphones directly to shoppers to observe navigation hurdles and interface adoption in real time.
Data volume and the difference between B2C and B2B
The rapid feedback loop enabled by mass retail was highlighted by Grivot as a primary differentiator between B2C and B2B marketing. The scale of e-commerce transactions allowed the team to validate hypotheses and recalibrate credit parameters almost in real time.
"In B2B marketing, because data volume is smaller, testing takes much longer. But in large-scale B2C retail, you launch something today and tomorrow you have a flood of data to work with. That gives you the agility to adjust course and fine-tune your strategy quickly," Grivot explained.