The retail sector is an important player in the economic activity national and employs more than 700,000 formal employees and generates indirect work for more than 1 million people. Leslie Passalacqua, president of the CCL Retail and Distribution Guild, analyzes the sector for the end of the year.
-What is the current profile of retail consumers?
-Now we have a consumer who knows the opportunities, such as cybers and black Fridays. This consumer is technological, who buys what the networks offerwho comes to a retail store because he knows there is an opportunity for a discount and doesn’t wait until the end.
-And in the case of stores?
-I think that presence is not going to change. The seller will continue in the store, but if actions are not taken at the level of strategies to be in the entire communications trend, to be on Google and social networks, the brand will not be taken to another level.
-How is technology impacting the retail sector?
-In a positive way. COVID-19 meant that all retailers had websites and a marketplace. It has given Peruvian and global retailers the opportunity to launch into something that we would never have imagined. Before, if the brand did not require it, a website was not created.
-How are retailers responding to these changes?
-They have been faster than us. They marked a milestone by being the ones who began selling online before the big brands because they needed to eat, sell, get ahead and advance in their daily lives. The retailer, although it depends on the trend that comes from outside, sells faster because it does not need so many directory procedures.
-What are the main challenges of the sector?
-At the moment, spend this Christmas, because it is complicated, there is a recession. The first challenge is to achieve the numbers for 2022, to achieve the numbers of an optimistic Christmas with inflation and a recession behind us that we did not have last year. Furthermore, next year there is an El Niño phenomenon that is already known to be significant.
-What are your expectations for the Christmas campaign?
-The campaign started in November, there were already two cybers and a black Friday. If sales do not work, actions will be taken that benefit the customer and not much on the margin (of profits), so as not to be left with stock. There are brands that can have a difficult time if they do not sell their merchandise.
-What actions?
-Margins will be sacrificed, with actions such as discounts. In other Christmases, discounts were never made, but they are going to have to be done because it is worse to keep the January and February inventory that we already know has an El Niño Phenomenon that can complicate things quite a bit.
-And your forecasts for closing the year?
-It had been said that we would reach S/32,000 million in the stores that are within the mallswhich is above 2019, which was S/29,000 million, the ideal would be to reach what has been predicted, which are the same numbers that occurred in 2022, but in a context without recession.
-Despite this scenario, how is Peruvian retail perceived from abroad?
-Within all of Latin America we are still a good expectation, brands come. Peruvian retailers also continue to open.
Source: Larepublica
Alia is a professional author and journalist, working at 247 news agency. She writes on various topics from economy news to general interest pieces, providing readers with relevant and informative content. With years of experience, she brings a unique perspective and in-depth analysis to her work.
