Supermarkets cross Quarter in blue

As important sectors of trade continue to be pressured by economic instability, the Supermercist branch is, as far as possible, unharmed by the harmful effects of the current moment. In the first quarter of this year, the Supermercist branch grew 0.42% in the sales volume, according to the Brazilian Supermarket Association (ABRAS). The figure is higher than that estimated by the retail market as a whole, which is 0.2% in the most optimistic assessments and a decline of 0.2% in the pessimists. The support of supermarkets, which is due to be items of basic necessity, also relies on at the speed that entrepreneurs adapted the reality of the country. When the sector's results were evaluated in the year-on-month, the supermarket branch shrank in only two readings (see chart) as sectors such as clothing, durable goods and construction material, on the same basis, recorded negative results At least eight periods. "The food retail was very agile in actions ranging from rapid adaptation to the attack until the restructuring of less profitable flags," says the professor of macro economics and specialist in retail behavior, Ismael Assis. As a result, explains the Academic, supermarkets managed to take the weight off of deficit operations (such as hypermarkets) and add value to healthier operations. "One example that I always give was the agility with which the GPA group reconsidered the Extra hypermarket flag," he said, remembering that the retail giant went through a period of conversion of Extra flags in Assaí, the group's attacking arm and that earns plenty of space From 2016. In a cascade effect, the independent retail consultant, Francisco Malta, assesses that small and medium-sized entrepreneurs were also keen in conducting the business. He, who was a consultant in the restructuring of a supermarket network in Mato Grosso do Sul, says that the solution to cross the crisis was in the direct offer of credit. " We did research and realized that there was a strong demand for consumers who needed, for example, to change the refrigerator, but there was no credit on the banks. Our solution was to offer this credit and ensure sales of items of higher added value. " With the card in operation two years ago, he says the network collects advances. "In one year the revenues jumped 10% and cushied The decrease in the sales of imported foods, for example," he says. In one way or another, the strategies are giving results. In March, sales grew 11.15% in relation to February, and presented a decline of-3.24%, about a year earlier. The reason for the retraction, according to the president of Abras, João Sanzovo Neto, was seasonal. "Last year's Easter was celebrated in early April and the purchases concentrated in March, this year the date was celebrated in the second fortnight of April," explains the executive.