Unlike 2021, the campaign of Valentine’s Day this year will be very important since not only will we not be in quarantine, but curfew restrictions are no longer in force.
Thus, after the month of January – which started well thanks to the Christmas campaign, but which later became more complicated as a result of the third wave of infections from the COVID-19which caused the flow of people to drop by 20% in the malls–, this campaign is a good opportunity to recover sales, he pointed out Leslie Passalacqua, president of the Retail and Distribution Guild of the Lima Chamber of Commerce (CCL).
“Compared to 2019, we expect between an 85% to 90% increase in sales, with an average ticket of S/ 150 to S/200″ he mentioned.
Although the average ticket is holding up, what is going to change is the flow of people buying and the growth will occur thanks to that additional volume, added Passalacqua.
LOOK: More than 18,000 students signed up to apply to the COAR
RESTAURANTS
Carlos Canales, president of the National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur)pointed out that despite the fact that the capacity is still limited, the increase in sales, compared to the month of December, would be between 30% and 40% additional.
“Having lifted the curfew, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues will be able to attend extended hours and reactivate the activity that has been badly hit during the last 22 months.”, he mentioned.
Adolfo Perret, Vice President of the Gastronomy Sector of the CCL, pointed out that the greater capacity that has occurred after vaccination and the requirement of the card with the complete dose schedule, opens up good expectations.
“The projections are better and the expectation is good. We see that in 2019 40% of people preferred to go out to dinner on this date and we expect it to increase between 10% and 15% this year, being conservative”he added.
An important issue that concerns the rotation, within the restaurants, is the desktop, something that has not been taking place and has allowed a greater flow; however, for Valentine’s Day it is expected that the capacity will be reduced due to this point, Perret commented.
FLOWERS AND CHOCOLATES
A plus to the gifts for these dates is to accompany them with flowers and chocolates, says Passalacqua. “Even if you sell clothing, perfumes, shoes, you always give a plus by giving away chocolates and, between November and December 2021, their import grew 91%”, he added.
Likewise, he stressed that delivery will be much more requested than in 2021 in everything that refers to deliveries of chocolates, meals and punctual gifts for the date, which moves a lot by this means.
“Therefore, online stores will have a lot of participation”he pointed out.
Data
- According to the Foreign Trade Research and Development Institute of the Lima Chamber of Commerce, between November and December 2021, the importation of chocolates added US$2 milliongrowing 91% compared to the same period in 2020.
- According to the president of Canatur, there is expectation on the part of the business sector that is already preparing special offers for the date.
