Two years after the first quarantine due to the pandemic, and without restrictions such as curfew or capacity limits in establishments, malls and the retail sector are beginning to see a better outlook, although the levels of 2019 have not yet been reached.
The chairman of the board of directors of the Association of Shopping Centers of Peru (Accept), Juan José Calle, indicated that this year they expect to reach 90% of the sales they registered in 2019, which amounted to approximately S/29,000 million. For the first quarter of 2023 they trust to have the pre-pandemic levels.
“The first quarter has been very good, this release of capacity has given people a feeling of being able to move freely. The same happens with the elimination of the curfew and the advancement of the vaccination process against COVID-19″he indicated.
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Although the World Cup qualifiers are boosting sales of TVs and other home appliances, he noted that consumer confidence has yet to fully recover.
“This confidence is stagnant because of the political noise, because of the uncertainty, the war between Russia and Ukraine that affects the price of food“, said.
For her part, the President of the Ratail Guild and Distribution of the Lima Chamber of Commerce (CCL), Leslie Passalacquaspecified that there are good expectations for the next campaign, which is Mother’s Day, in which, he pointed out, pre-pandemic levels could be reached.
“By May you can reach 95% or 100% of the sales of 2019, but then it will drop to reach 90% this year”he commented, coinciding with Juan José Calle.
Likewise, he affirmed that in January, due to the arrival of the “Ómicron” variant, a 40% reduction in the flow of visits was observed”, but that as the economy improves, the number of influx also.
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“Retail is a sensitive sector and it hasn’t finished recovering, but I think it will improve. We have many companies and brands that were unable to open due to the pandemic”, highlighted the representative of the business association.
situation in gamarra
And what happens in the largest commercial emporium? Susana Saldaña, president of the Gamarra Peru Business Associationcommented that in the first three months sales have reached 40% of the S / 6,600 million of 2019.
However, the panorama is becoming more complicated for them due to the greater presence of informal merchants and the increase in crime in the area.
“Informality is unfair competition. They take like 40% of our sales, and nobody does anything about it to support us with this problem”he indicated.
Data
- The most outstanding campaigns for retail are Christmas, Mother’s Day and National Holidays.
- Leslie Passalacqua reported that about 30% of retail brands did not reopen affected by the pandemic, but were replaced by other businesses.
- In the Gamarra conglomerate, 60% of businessmen are already carrying out activities within the emporium.
