The bell will ring again this March 7 with the beginning of classes in primary and secondary. On these dates also start the sales of stationery items to face the school year. During the pandemic, classes were taught online (especially in 2020), which persisted alternating with face-to-face during the past year, when alarming numbers of infections and deaths due to covid-19 were recorded in Uruguay.
Since 2020, the consumption of technological and office supplies increased considerably by distance study and home office. But, particularly in 2021, there was a “boom in sales of technology products”said Damián Lachaga, Marketing Manager of Mosca Hermanos, in dialogue with Coffee & Business. In any case, the executive specified that although The demand for these inputs did not decrease –as notebooks–growth slowed during the beginning of 2022.
In this sense, Lachaga explained that During 2021, a “sales recovery process” took place. and estimated that The purchasing trend until the first days of February of this year “was very good, to the point that we have already reached the sales levels of 2019, in pre-pandemic.” To paint the current situation that the store is going through (which combines the stationery, bookstore and toy store areas), Lachaga expressed that since the beginning of 2022 “not as many are sold notebook and more notebooks are sold”.
“Unitedly, technological products yield, but, globally, between the sales of stationery and artistic products, there is a compensation in the drop in the growth of technological products,” said Lachaga regarding the profitability of the business.
In the same line, It is evident that there was a pronounced increase in the sale of backpacks, an article that registered an increase in demand of more than 40% compared to last year. “This product has a shelf life of two years and possibly this shot in sales has to do with the changes of the last two years,” explained Lachaga, who also specified that the best-selling designs are those that are marketed under the Enchantment line – the Disney Pictures animated film, which was released in 2021 – and the PlayStation 5 designs. “Backpacks, pencil cases and lunch boxes worked well with these designs”he specified.
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According to Mosca costs, a traditional assortment costs between $2,500 and $3,500
While, representatives of Tienda Inglesa told Coffee & Business that the firm registers “a sales trend similar to that of last year”. In addition, they subscribed that virtuality caused the sale of stationery to be reduced. “Sales from the physical channel fell 12% in 2021 and 8% in 2020 compared to the last harvest under normal conditions, which was 2019,” they indicated.
In his case, the 100-sheet, hardcover, ruled notebook Tienda Inglesa is the best-selling item of each harvest. Then follows the three-story Sabonis cartridge case with supplies, the Jansport Superbreak backpack, the Brio thermal lunch box and 48- and 96-page lined notebooks, Tienda Inglesa, explained from that supermarket chain to Coffee & Business.
platforms
In the wake of the pandemic, online sales carried out by Mosca multiplied by 15confirmed Lachaga, who recalled that the company already had this channel prior to the arrival of covid-19. However, as the activities were opened, the growth of this sales channel “was residual, but it was consolidated, and today it is used three times more than it was used in the pre-pandemic”specified the Marketing manager.
According to Lachaga, it is important to develop this sales channel, because the customer can buy on the platform and pick up at any of our stores. “The school supply list is around 30 items, so our goals are to make it easier for customers to buy them,” added Lachaga, acknowledging that in Uruguay “the public is much more mature” to face online purchases.
In the same line, from Tienda Inglesa they affirmed that “the web sale of stationery in the school harvest quadrupled in the last two years”. According to the chain’s representatives, there is evidence of an exponential growth in this channel, responding to a change in the consumption habits of its customers, not only in stationery but in the different categories that are worked on at Tienda Inglesa.
Price increase
The Consumer Price Information System of the Ministry of Economy conducted a price survey of different school supplies during the period from February 1 to 18, 2022. According to the analysis, “in 29 items the average price increases, while in seven it decreases”, if that period is compared with the same one in 2021.
The article that registered the greatest increase in its price is the set of three brushes without a brand (22.7% more expensive than a year ago). Maped branded pencil sharpener follows. (whose increase is 19%) and, third, Longlory 24-count slim markerswhich registered an increase of 18.5%.
The other side is the cheapest: the 13-centimeter Maped scissors (25.6% less than a year ago), the theory correction pen (whose cost decreased by 22.7%) and Papyrus chickpea leaves of 25 unitswhich registered a drop of 17.8% in its price.
As for the conventional school assortment – made up of approximately 30 school items – according to Mosca’s prices, the company’s Marketing Manager specified Coffee & Business Its cost is between $2,500 and $3,500. To this is added the cost of the backpack -what ranges from $1,000 to $1,500–; the one with the cartridge case –which is around $500– and textbooks that are around $1,000 each and depend on the requirements of the educational institution.
According to the report, the variations in prices respond to the brands of the tools and supplies in general, the area in which the point of sale is located, and the materials that the student requires according to the institution to which he attends.
How does the context affect?
Mosca’s manager waits for the next few days to obtain a balance on the sales situation during this start of courses, due to the “start of classes shift”. In this sense, it should be remembered that in 2021 the school year began on March 1, while in 2022 it will begin on the 7th of the same month, which changes “the behavior of purchases,” according to Lachaga. This point was also highlighted by the representatives of Tienda Inglesa: “Something important to keep in mind is that the harvest is ‘run’so we are going to have a real diagnosis of the results of the harvest 15 days after the last start of classes”.
Camilo dos Santos
Primary and Secondary courses will begin on March 7
Both businesses ratified the hypothesis that Uruguayans usually leave everything to the last minute, although many families hope to have the complete list of supplies after the start of the courses.
In this sense, from Tienda Inglesa they explained that the premise is fulfilled:
“Of the 75% of the sale that occurs before the start of classes, 18% occurs during the two days prior to the startwhen almost double the average is sold”.
The remaining 25% is given in the starting weekbeing these key days in the sale of the harvest, given that in many schools the school list is given on the first day of classes and not before.
In addition to this factor, Mosca closely follows the “delay in imports of some product lines” that they marketlike textbooks, one of the most requested products during this harvest. The delay is the result of the so-called container crisis, one of the most complex moments in international maritime logistics whose tails have a direct impact on industry and commerce in various parts of the world.
“The delay in the supply chain is impacting prices”pointed out Lachaga and admitted that it is still unknown what effect the war (between Russia and Ukraine) will have on the supply and, therefore, in the prices of its articles.
