It is estimated that from January to November, trade, at the national level, generated $ 61,932 million, 20% more than what was billed in 2020
December has arrived, a month that for commerce is the most important of the year, and that in many cases represents up to more than half of its annual sales.
That estimate is transmitted in the environment and the characteristic commercial movement that begins with this month.
However, businesses have promoted campaigns and strategies to grow in sales during the year, which until now had their highest peak with promotions and discounts for the Black Friday or Black Friday, which many establishments extended until yesterday and in some cases until the first days of December, as is the case with the Maxi Days campaign by Megamaxi and Supermaxi, which will maintain the discounts until December 8.
This previous movement has had encouraging results, according to Miguel Ángel González, president of the Federation of the Chambers of Commerce of Ecuador and the Chamber of Commerce of Guayaquil.
He estimated that between January and November, commerce billed around $ 61,932 million, this is 20% more than what was billed in 2020.
Two out of every ten households will spend more for this Christmas, consumption in most families will be the same or less than in 2020
That year, in December, at the national level, trade generated $ 19,489 million, 0.2% less than in 2019, added González, who expects to close this December with an increase of at least 9% compared to what was obtained in 2020.
“For this year, given the economic reactivation and the holidays, we expect there to be growth this month,” said the leader.
González’s enthusiasm is shared by businesses that expect significant revenues this month, as found in a tour by a team from Diario EL UNIVERSO through shopping centers and other businesses.
For example, the Miniso chain of stores, which has a presence in Quito and Guayaquil, and in the latter with three stores: Riocentro Los Ceibos, El Dorado and Mall del Sol, expects a large influx of customers this month.
“Miniso is a Japanese franchise, we have hairdressing, cosmetics, we have licenses, such as Tom and Jerry from Marvel, we have Christmas options, a toy store,” said Verónica Aguilera, a worker at the Mall del Sol store, who assured that They are motivated and have high expectations for this month.
He noted that the discounts they offered for Black Friday they were in force until yesterday and that from today another promotional campaign will begin to attract customers.
“Compared to the whole year, one always waits for December because it is the boom time, to get out of the crisis or make the super sale because people are motivated to buy,” Aguilera explained.
This month the shopping centers also apply strategies to attract customers such as promotions and raffles. One of these is the Policenter, which unified the Black Friday with Christmas and the end of the year to raffle three vehicles. The first car was raffled last Sunday, the second car will be raffled on December 23 and the last car on January 7. For every $ 25 in cumulative invoices, customers will be able to redeem a coupon to enter the sweepstakes.
Meanwhile, December is characterized by high demand for clothing and toys. In this last segment, chains such as Juguetón, from Corporación Favorita, also show optimism.
Rubén Salazar, corporate manager of Corporación Favorita, assured that December represents 60% of the chain’s annual sales and indicated that his expectations are focused on having similar or better sales than in 2020.
“The activation of the trade is improving, so we expect more visits to our stores respecting the capacity and distance,” said Salazar, who pointed out that until yesterday the promotions they will have for this month were still being defined.
The informal sector also expects the rebound. Manuel Saquilema, a street clothing vendor from the Bay, assured that he invested $ 1,500 in clothing to sell this month.
“In recent months I invested little, but in December you have to take risks, I lent money, it seems that you are going to see a good move,” said the merchant, who walks along Olmedo avenue with a suitcase where he carries and exhibits his merchandise.
Economic analyst Jorge Calderón assured that December is an attractive month, in which many merchants “put their last hopes” to achieve important sales and compensate for a not so positive situation in the rest of the year.
“Even more so if we leave a year 2020 in which mobility limitations still existed, among other things, which affected trade. In any case, 2021 exceeds a higher growth trend, undoubtedly, than 2020 and that is as close as possible to 2019, ″ said Calderón, who indicated that this recovery is reflected in the growth of tax collections and exports, which according to him, suggests that in December there will be an important commercial movement.
According to the Internal Revenue Service (SRI), from May to September, more than $ 3 billion was collected in taxes from large taxpayers. This represented an additional $ 442 million compared to the same period last year. The economic sectors that reported the highest participation in the collection were: financial and insurance, commerce, manufacturing, telecommunications, oil and mines.
Tax collection of large taxpayers grew by 17%, according to SRI
Regarding non-oil and non-mining exports, according to Central Bank figures, they experienced a year-on-year growth of 10% in the first nine months of 2021. In exported value, this item reached $ 11,437 million and represents 60% of the total of exports. (I)
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