Notes after launching a SaaS product in Brazil: cash payments, onboarding, and small talk. Checklist inside!
When we first heard about the Brazilian market, we were intrigued by its potential. The growth rates of e-commerce there are staggering, and the world of data analysis is just beginning to unfold.
“The Brazilian market is hungry for innovation and constantly seeking new solutions.”
That’s what open sources and the results of our preliminary research said. And our team set out to verify this in practice. However, in addition to the potential of this market, we also found peculiarities associated with entering this market. If not taken into account, your path will not be an easy one.
At the end of this article, I will share a checklist based on our experience that will help those who plan to enter the Brazilian market. But now, give this article some “claps” and let me tell you about our discoveries in this market.
My name is Nick and I’m the CPO of the no-code automation platform, Albato. Our product helps integrate any services via API without the need for programmers. And this is our story. Let’s begin!
The digital market in Brazil — modern realities.
The pandemic has further accelerated the transition of businesses to cloud services. For example, figures revealed in Hubspot’s report for 2021 show that the average number of SaaS services used per company increased five-fold in pandemic-stricken 2020. The fastest-growing niches were e-commerce and EdTech. But all of this is true not only for Brazil. Is it not?
However, this colorful country has a number of advantages that make this market attractive for launching a Saas product. Here are a few facts in one picture.
The level of digital solutions in this country is comparable to technologies that were popular in Europe 5 years ago. Instead of convenient CRM systems, bulky collections of Google Sheets are often used, and some companies haven’t even heard of cross-channel analytics! I mean, even top advertising agencies. But… isn’t this a great opportunity for growth and a starting point?
As they say, you can only find gold in the mountains!
But it must be said that Brazilians are renowned for their marketing and design skills. We have several Brazilian designers on our team and everything is going smoothly, we are happy to collaborate with them.
Features of the Brazilian market
The search for a local team and opening a legal entity.
The fun begins with opening a legal entity. Easier said than done =) Be prepared for the process to take up to six months. And yes, during this time, you’ll have to figure out how to accept payments. There is an optimal solution — find and hire a country manager who already has a legal entity set up. Since you’re ready to enter a new market with your product, I’m sure you understand the risks and responsibilities involved with this task.
Payment systems and payment methods.
Payment systems and payment methods. If there is a word for describing billing in this country, it’s a pain. About 70% of bank cards in the country don’t work for receiving payments from abroad, and a significant portion of the population (around 15%) prefers to pay using the Boleto Bankario system (a payment method regulated by the Brazilian Central Bank. It involves receiving a check in exchange for cash and paying with that check).
The tax on transactions from abroad is 6.38%, so you’ll have to decide whether to pay it yourself or pass it on to the consumer. Essentially, this means you lose almost 7%, and with currency conversion, it’s all 10% if you’re receiving money into a non-Brazilian bank account. You’ll have to carefully think through currency exchange schemes, payment acceptance, and tax allocation — at Albato, we had to completely overhaul our billing process.
Special attention to security.
Special attention to security. Documentation for services is difficult to access and the testing environment is turned off outside of work hours. During registration, a lot of data will be requested, including the tax number (CPF) — it’s practically impossible to create an account without it.
Mentality.
In Brazil, people like to chat before getting down to business. It’s best to start all work-related conversations and tasks with some small talk! If you jump straight into business matters, it might come across as if you’re dissatisfied with something or the team did something wrong. So, have a chat about the weather, football, or even a new movie before moving onto business.
Localization.
Very few people speak English — about 5% of the population, so without localization, you can’t get by — at all. You need to prepare your product for it: website, content — everything requires a translation management system. We use Localise, without a content and translation management system, it’s complete chaos. There is nothing in English around the country. Portuguese is the first and only language — primeira e única!
Communication channels
Trying to reach clients by phone is like throwing a ball into the fog. You don’t know where it went or who caught it. Nobody answers calls, and conversion rates are just percentages or fractions of percentages.
In the good old days, there were text messages. But in Brazil, it’s all about WhatsApp! So remember, if you want to successfully reach your users, you need to communicate through WA. And let’s not even talk about email. Conversion rates from it are like praying in the desert. It’s better to write a letter with pigeons, maybe there will be more chances for a response.
Onboarding
Onboarding is a big deal for Brazilians. People there love to watch instructions, additional materials, and anything related to onboarding. They love it so much that over 50% of users on experimental launches complete the onboarding process.
Conclusion
Of course, this list doesn’t cover all the key features of the Brazilian market. However, it helped our team successfully launch our SaaS product in this country. And of course, launching on any new market, not just Brazil, comes with its own set of challenges and requires good preparation. But it also means new huge opportunities for business and exciting exploration of new cultures, traditions, and habits.
Checklist for launching a SaaS product in Brazil:
- Find a finance-savvy leader who can also build a team and is willing to relocate to Brazil.
- Assemble a minimum on-site team (head/product, marketer, support, and sales manager).
- Determine the niches in which the launch will take place and identify key players for partnerships.
- Connect to an international payment system (preferably through a local legal entity). Immediately provide users with the ability to pay with “Boleto Bankario”. It would also be good to attach payment with PIX immediately (we are working with Stripe, it helps a lot with different payment methods).
- Make sure that the billing system supports payment in Brazilian currency (BRL)
- Prepare the technological and organizational basis for localization. Translate the website and product into Portuguese.
- Double-check that everything has been translated into Portuguese. For example, emails…
- Provide local staff with tools for working with WhatsApp (set up a business account, automate mailings).
- Prepare advertising channels for the launch. Google Ads and FB are the main promotion platforms.
I hope that our team’s experience and my checklist will help you prepare or check yourself for all the important details. As promised, here’s our checklist! And don’t forget to clap if you found this article helpful!
You can download and save our checklist by following the link!
You may also be interested in our previous article: 9 Best AI Automation Practices for Marketing and Sales
