This week the Argentine Confederation of Medium Enterprises (CAME) published a report detailing how the sales of SMEs were in the month of March and in the first quarter of the year.
According to this press release, retail sales had an annual decrease of 0.1% in March and thus accumulated a decrease of 0.4% in the first quarter of the year.
The item with the greatest year-on-year decline was dress (-10.1%) while the one that rose the most was the category of pharmacy (+8,2%).
In turn, the report concludes that in these first months of the year, households maintained their levels of consumption, prioritizing food and beverages, made purchases of durable goods, such as electronics, and avoided less urgent products such as clothing, footwear, decoration, and textiles. .
As to food and drinks, March sales grew 1.5% annually but fell 1.1% monthly. Although the month was better than in 2022, CAME stresses that traders are concerned about prices. There was more consumption in large stores where offers and promotions are taken advantage of.
For the pharmacy the numbers are good: sales for the month grew 8.2% annually and 0.3% monthly, at constant prices. For the first quarter of 2023 they add an increase of 8.9% compared to the same period last year.
the heading dress It had a decline of 10.1% per year and for the first quarter they have a drop of 11.8% compared to the same period last year. It was the item with the greatest retraction and it is the fifth consecutive month that sales have fallen.
In bazaar, decoration, home textiles and furniture, sales fell 1.7% annually in March, but rose 1.8% monthly, at constant prices. For the first quarter they add up to a decline of 1.8% compared to the same period last year. In other words, in March people avoided those expenses.
Another item that was affected was the perfumeries, people began to choose national products over imported ones. Sales in March fell 2.4% annually and 4.1% monthly.
For the hardware stores, electrical materials and materials Construction sales for the month were good: they improved by 3.7% annually in the third month of the year and 4.9% monthly, at constant prices. In the quarter it has an increase of 1% in the interannual comparison. Comerciones reported that there were more inquiries than usual and expect the same for the next month.
