School campaign: will sales reach pre-pandemic levels?

There is a month and a half left for school classes to start, but the school campaign It has already started, both for traditional sales channels and for modern retail, and expectations range from results that will deal with roadblocks to forecasts about resuming billing in 2019.

The wholesale sales of the campaign begin in the second half of January, while retail sales begin in the second half of February. This is how he explained it Vice President of the Chamber of Entrepreneurs and Merchants of Round tableRoman Nazario.

Although this season, unlike those of 2021 and 2022, generates more enthusiasm among merchants as there are no sanitary restrictions due to the pandemic, it is accompanied by concern about the protests.

At Mesa Redonda they estimated to bill US$14 million a day this season, according to Nazario. However, the amount will be 20% less due to the difficulties in distributing the supplies in some regions.

“The interior of the country represents 40% of sales, but the seizure of roads and vandalism do not allow the distribution of the products,” he commented.

The most demanded items would be the same as in years prior to the health emergency: notebooks, pens, pencils, colors, among others.

While, the manager of the Bazaar area of ​​Plaza Vea, Katherine del Carpio, indicated that they expect a growth of 20%.

“We will reach pre-pandemic sales levels,” he told Peru21and added that they will have “a complete proposal” and assorted products.

“The proposal for backpacks and lunch boxes once again gains prominence, especially in the first stage. Then the notebooks take on an important relevance, ”he explained. In addition, he explained that due to global inflation, prices have risen, mainly for paper derivatives, by approximately 15%.

IMPORTS

School items are purchased months in advance. The data of the Chamber of Commerce (CCL) reveal that, between August and December 2022, the foreign purchase of notebooks, notebooks, and diaries totaled US$1,484,525, above US$608,373 in the same period of 2021.

As for pencils, the figure went from US$2,357,064 to US$4,274,119, while that of rules, drafts, folders as a whole increased from US$216,545 to US$659,905.

The head of the CCL Foreign Trade Research and Development Institute, Oscar Quiñones, explained that the results are explained by the return to the classroom, taking into account that the products are purchased in advance.

“We are already approaching pre-pandemic levels due to face-to-face and the fact that we will not have a hybrid system,” he said.

CONSUMER LOANS

Other actors in this campaign are the municipal savings banks. Liliana Lescano, head of Products at Caja Piura, explained that consumer loans have doubled for this campaign and have reached S/3.5 million.

Regarding sales, Lescano said: “We plan to keep it at 2022 levels with a goal of S/38 million due to the inflationary perspective and the current crisis.”

“The products that we will grant are credits for consumption such as purchase of supplies, payment of pensions, purchase of uniforms, among others, and business credits so that merchants can have the necessary stock and reactivate during the months of January and February”, assured.

Among the businesses that usually resort to these loans for the season are bookstores, bazaars, the textile and footwear sector and even technology.

Keep in mind

-The import of markers, markers and highlighters totaled US$5,418,732 between August and December 2022, above US$2,909,738 in the same period of 2021.

-Regarding the purchase of pencils and colors, this increased from US$3,661,381 to US$7,016,471 in the analysis period, revealed the Lima Chamber of Commerce. China is the main country that supplies these tools.

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