Natalia Muscatelli
04/01/2021 7:02 AM
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 04/01/2021 7:02 AM
The generalized drop in consumption in the context of the recessionary context of the economy does not impact all sales channels in the same way.
Online purchases, in pharmacies and in large supermarket chains have been
registering
growth in the volumes sold
during the first two months of the year.
On the contrary, local shops or independent self-services (including the Chinese), where consumers stock up on food and hygiene and toilet products, including wholesalers,
continued to register negative numbers.
According to the surveys of the consulting firm Scentia, sales in supermarkets fell 12.1% in January and February and wholesalers skidded 5.2% in the same period.
On the other hand,
Internet sales grew 173.5% and pharmacies increased their volumes by 6.1% in the same period.
The consulting firm's e-commerce data arises from online sales of supermarket chains, the major players in pharmacies and perfumeries, and e-commerce platforms.
To survey the pharmaceutical channel, the consulting firm measures sales in the main chains and independent pharmacies in the country on a universe of 14,000 businesses.
An explanation about the performance of these channels
has to do with the pandemic.
The inevitable passage of consumers through pharmacies to obtain not only medicines but also supplies that became irreplaceable (such as chinstraps and alcohol gel, among others) boosted the sales of this channel.
This was the case even when
the average price curve in these stores went from 36.1% to 64% between January and February of this year,
according to the consulting firm's records.
In any case, what grew the most were drugs, which represent 80% of the turnover in these stores.
On the other hand,
the explosion of electronic commerce was also due to the isolation in homes
from the fear of contagion and the need to channel supply needs in a more secure way.
In this sense, 2020 was a
breakthrough year
in which millions of
new users bought online for the first time
.
“Previously, many of the online purchases were for“ non-urgent ”items.
Currently most of the consumed
res tend to look online for anything they need, and
many times they need it 'now', "
says Moova, a company that solves last-mile deliveries in online sales.
"
Marketplaces and online stores are finally an alternative to neighborhood businesses and to position themselves in this battle they must offer almost the same immediacy", they add.
The positive records of pharmacies, according to Osvaldo del Rio, an analyst at Scentia, have to do in part with a very low comparison base compared to last year, since
even before the pandemic they had been falling, he
said.
As for the rest of the channels, the specialist explained: "
Supermarkets have been
fighting it a little more because they have
a
better
price differential
than neighborhood businesses, because they achieve better negotiation with their suppliers."
"The chains were also influenced in part by the Care Prices program, which grew almost twice in number of products compared to last year and also due to the Maximum Prices that remain in force," the analyst explains.
"Meanwhile,
wholesalers fall because, in turn, the businesses that source from them, such as warehouses
,
fall a lot," he
explains.
NE
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