Supermarkets and warehouses resist the crisis better than self-service shops

Escalating inflation has accentuated price dispersion and widened the gap between marketing channels. In August, sales in supermarkets increased by 3.5% with the promotion of Care Price and promotions, which “account for 36% of the total volume“says a report prepared by the consulting firm Nielsen. The data contrast with the 8.3% drop recorded by self-service last month.

Analysts believe that this trend has deepened in parallel with the rise in the cost of living, which in July it reached 7.4%, the highest level of the last 20 years. This Wednesday, Indec will release data for August, which advisors expect it to be more than 6%. In a context where wages are lower than prices, “the consumer goes to the nearest supermarket, more frequently e buy cheaper productssays the study.

These are the new buying habits in times of crisis, in which local formats (shops and neighborhood shops) grow above the national average. “The channel is better suited to the needs of the consumer, as it requires less outlay and aims to solve a particular need,” explains Gustavo Mallo, analyst at Scanntech.

This is indicated by the consultant’s latest survey, which measures exclusively in local businesses consumption in August decreased by 7.3% and accumulates a decline of 2.6% in the first 8 months of the year. The decline has accelerated with the last quarter’s price spike, which impacts stores that don’t offer promotions or products with regulated prices.

Like this, “inflation for the self-service mass consumption basket has risen to 10% in August, and accumulates 56.2% so far this year “, they underline to Scanntech. In the last 12 months the figure reaches 79.1%, against 71% of inflation. This is 8% more than the average cost of living.

The search for the best price is the logic that prevails and for this reason people prefer promotions, cheaper brands and ration their purchases. “In the 2022 accumulation, the average ticket was $ 1,090 e the number of units in each purchase has been reduced by 8%“, describes the consultant’s study.

The Nielsen poll indicates this just 6% of Argentines do not manage their expenses. The rest appeal to different strategies. The most cited were the monitoring of the costs of the entire cart (25%), the selection of the products with the lowest price (25%), the online shopping to take advantage of the offers (24%), the purchase of promotional products (21%), buying cheaper ones over the mark (20%) and stop buying some products (16%).

The salary is the main victim of the escalation of inflation. Until the first half of the year, revenues and prices were even, but the prospects for the second half of the year are not good. In the month of July, the cost of living doubled the real salary of formalized workers (3.5%), the lowest level in the last 12 years. And it is the fifth consecutive year that it falls.

Income and consumption go hand in hand. A statistical series compiled by Nielsen, basic item sales fell systematically in 2016 (4.3%), 2017 (2.7%), 2018 (2.8%), 2019 (12%) and 2020 (3 , 7%). In 2021 it recovered 10.8%, after the easing of traffic restrictions due to the pandemic.

The Secretary of Commerce, Matías Tombolini, is also advancing in negotiations to reformulate (once again) the Care Prices program. His idea, as it turned out, is to reduce the basket to return to the original scheme: few products from leading brands to set reference prices.