A month after being launched with the promise of stimulating consumption, Now 30 has not yet reached its goal. On October 22, the plan to finance the purchase of TVs, air conditioning, mobile phones, washing machines and refrigerators in 30 fixed installments came into force with results well below expectations. In chains and specialty stores they say so the number of operations is on average only 7% of the total volumewho fail to seduce a public more interested in financing their daily purchases than household appliances.

“There was much more noise and fewer nuts. People consulted a lot in the beginning, but interest waned when they saw the price of the selected products and the low limit of the cards. There is a high rejection rate and only 5% of those who tried to buy managed to complete the operation”, describes José Lilino, head of FACA Hogar (Argentine Federation of Commerce of Household Appliances and Related Electrical Appliances), the body that represents SMEs .

In the large chains of the sector, including Musimundo, Megatone, Cetrogar and Naldo, they admit certain disappointment at the low impact of the programme, although they point out that sales have increased. “We were up 25% in units in November, That’s a very high rate, especially because it was Cyber ​​Monday and the effect of the World Cup. But Now 30 is loosepeople are leaning towards programs that have fewer shares,” Naldo pointed out clarion.

Now 30 will be valid until December 22, with the possibility of extending it for another month. The program devised by the Secretary of Commerce, led by Matías Tombolini, allows you to finance the purchase of 325 products for 2 and a half years at a 48% annual rate, that’s nearly 15% lower than Now 12, for example. This credit line was sponsored by Economy Minister Sergio Massa, with the aim of “taking care of consumption, the internal market, the purchasing power of wages”, according to what he said.

On the other, the government promised to implement a special plan for retirees in November (Now 42), in the same terms as above. However, the Secretary of Commerce recognized this no progress in this regard without providing further details. in the private sector Now they doubt that it will finally boottaking into account the low participation of the Ora 30.

The companies claim that there is still a lot of ignorance about the program and that “people get scared when they hear the total amount to pay and leave the financing in 30 fixed installments in the background in a context of high inflation”, they underline. . Above all, they emphasize the huge number of refusals of transactions due to the level of debt of the people and the low share that the cards have in general. “The effectiveness rate with Now 30 is 7% effective,” they tell Cetrogar. They refer to the percentage of people who were able to complete the purchase.

Now 30 was organized through an agreement between producers, chains, shops, supermarkets and banks. As agreed, participating companies (637 so far) can offer 50″, 55″ and 58″ televisions with 4K technology, low-energy refrigerators, air conditioners and washing machines, with a maximum unit limit of $200,000. And also cell phones with a value of up to $120,000. It happens that with the tariff the value doubles (up to $ 400,000), and this is what complicates the processing of card financing.

At the moment, the best sellers in 30 quotas are TV (due to the World Cup) and ether, which are in “high season” according to the jargon of the sector. Cell phones are seldom shipped. “They do not represent 5% of our total sales“, slipped in an international brand. The products offered must comply with the guidelines of the program and there are currently a total of 325 models, across all categories.

“All measures to promote consumption are beneficial. Better that way than not. Having said that, it is true that Now 30 did not give great results for two reasons: the quotas of the cards and the maximum amount of the products“, a Fuegian producer was honest. In this sense, he added that there are other stimuli that work much better, such as the traditional Now 12 and big sales events, such as Cyber ​​​​Monday. “Consumers are very beware of this type of event”, summarized.

The government and industry had good expectations with Now 30, especially with televisions, the star category in the World Cup years. At the start of the year, the industry expected to ship just over 3.1 million units, up from 2.8 million a year earlier. It has been the flagship product of the last two months, even if the trend was interrupted, as expected, with the start of the World Cup in Qatar. “He will be able to pick up something in the next few days, as long as Argentina advances in the tournament,” they explain.

At the Now 30 launch ceremony, at the Lomas de Zamora branch of the Frávega chain, Massa stressed that the program “is the product of the efforts of the retail chains, the industrialists of Afarte (the chamber of producers of the Land of Fire ), of banking associations”. There, accompanied by Tombolini and the chief of staff of Buenos Aires, Martín Insaurralde, directors of companies, chains and executives of the financial sector, the minister thanked “the two banking associations (for the financing) because this program costs the state zero” . He mentioned the cost of financing 48% of durable goods sales.