Quarantine effect: more businesses turn to the online sales channel

Natalia Muscatelli

08/11/2020 - 13:15

• Clarín.com
• Economy
• Economy

In the midst of the difficult situation that commerce is going through during the quarantine, one way used by the sector to alleviate the crisis is  the migration to online sales . This process has been reflected in the statistics slowly but continuously. The percentage of companies that sold up to 25% of their products online before the pandemic, went from 26.7% to the current 30.5% , according to the fifth survey for companies on the coronavirus carried out by the Argentine Chamber of Commerce ( CAC).

Shops: online sales are growing. Source: Argentine Chamber of Commerce.

The survey was carried out between August 3 and 9 among companies from all over the country of different sizes that were consulted about aspects such as evolution of sales, delays in payments and online sales. Among other results, the survey showed that 58% of the firms are without operations or partially operational, while 42% are fully functional.

Regarding the level of sales, the survey showed that 22.9% of companies registered drops of more than 50% in relation to the previous stage, that is, before the pandemic. In 16.8% of the cases, there were falls of between 26 and 50% and up to 25% loss in 20.6% of the cases.

Compared to June, 18.3% of the businesses surveyed registered sales drops of more than 50%. Another 18.3% indicated that they lost up to 25% of their sales and 13.7% indicated that the decline was between 26 and 50%.

Regarding expectations for August: 57.2% of merchants expect activity to remain the same and almost 30% believe that sales will decrease.

The crisis also caused the sector to borrow heavily during the pandemic. This was the case for 60.3% of the companies consulted, among which 29% indicated that they went into debt in order to pay the salaries of their employees . Only 28.2% claimed to be without delay in the payment of wages. While 57.3% have arrears in payment of taxes and 38.9% in payment of services.

When asked about what percentage of July salaries they could pay in a timely manner, the answer was an average 77% , which in the case of essential employees amounted to 86.4% and non-essential 67%.

When asked: What do you consider the condition of your company to continue the current restrictions for the next 30 days? 48.1% indicated that it could continue to operate.

About the Telework Law , recently approved in Congress, 48.9% expressed "disagreement because the Law introduces rigidities for its implementation"; 15.2% agree with the Law because they believe that it will facilitate this type of work; and 35.9% did not have a formed opinion about it.

Finally, 77.9% of those consulted considered that a law aimed at reducing company bankruptcies should be a priority issue on the national agenda, the survey stated.

From the survey made by the CAC, companies of different sizes participated: up to 9 employees (71%); between 10 and 49 employees (13.7%); between 50 and 200 employees (12.2%); and companies with more than 200 employees (3.1%), in areas such as retail trade, wholesale trade and gastronomy, among others. 51.9% of the companies surveyed stated that they carry out essential activities.