Independent supermarkets, including those of Asian origin, are the format most affected by the economic crisis. Its expansion marked the beginning of an era within mass consumption, but today it is the channel most affected by it the impact of fair prices (which focuses on large supermarkets and wholesalers), falling sales, high inflation and rising fixed costs.
Such a combination drives many owners migrate from the AMBA area inland and to countries in the region, such as Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Chile and Ecuador“where there are more opportunities”, explains Yolanda Durán, head of CEDEAPSA, the main chamber that brings together “Chinese” self-service shops.
In the industry, they estimate around 200 stores have lowered their shutters so far this year, but clarify that the trend started with the pandemic, with growing loss of customers AND Difficulty in finding goods at competitive prices.
“Sales in supermarkets They have been showing sharp declines since 2019and while in supermarkets and in the traditional channel (shops) there is a recovery”, says Maximiliano Narducci, of Nielsen. In this channel, according to the latest report by the consultancy firm Scanntech, the consumption of basic products (food, beverages , cleaning ) contracted by 8.8% in February, e accumulate 12 months of consecutive absences.
Durán clarifies that, in fact, many shops in the Capital and GBA have closed because “they are moving inland, mainly to nearby cities where we are doing very well”. The directive notes that many homeowners “they are looking for opportunities” and their investments are on the other side of the border, where they find more stable economies with much lower inflation. “We are interested in places where we can grow again,” she proclaims.
A Nielsen study confirms the bad moment of Chinese supermarkets. “In 2022 the number of enterprises (related to mass consumption) increased by 4% compared to the previous year and today they total 286,300 mouthsAlmost all formats recorded increases: shops (7%), supermarkets (1%), perfumeries (14%), kiosks and dragstores (1%) and pharmacies (7%). The other face is the self-service , Which they decreased by 1% in 2022 but accumulate a contraction of 5% compared to 2019.
Chinese supermarkets reached their peak in 2014. They were estimated to have 13,000 outlets that year, but have since started to decline. The change in trend coincides with the arrival of Precios Cuidados, concentrated in hypermarkets and supermarkets. Renamed several times, the program brought traffic to the larger chainswhose participation in sales increased from 34% to 38.5%, the highest level in the last 10 years.
In this regard, Durán points out that self-services are currently at a distinct disadvantage to compete for the price difference. Especially now that big chains are expanding their local stores (like Carrefour Express and Día), “and are setting up on the same block as our stores with the advantage of fair prices,” she complains.
In any case, Nielsen insists, supermarkets and shops have recovered their sales in the post-pandemic, “managing to exceed 2019 levels”. On the other hand, “self-services continue their downward trend, reaching in 2022 the lowest level of per capita consumption since 2010”, they add.
There is another aspect to consider: consultancy records drops in consumption in almost all categories and commercial formats, «but food and beverage is growing in all of them, except self-service», explains Narducci.
Source: Clarin
