the sector of shopping malls had a 34.8% growth in sales in the first quarter of 2022, according to the quarterly balance sheet of the Brazilian Association of Shopping Centers (hugs ). Discounting inflation, the rise was 22.2%.
The result was the first positive result for the sector since the same period in 2019, when growth of 8.5% was recorded. The negative performance in subsequent years was due to the pandemic with malls accumulating drops of 9.1% and 25.9% in sales in the first three months of 2020 and 2021.
According to Abrasce, the result is also linked to the strong variation in sales in March compared to the same month in the previous year. The increase was 132.5%. In February, the annual increase was 10.6%, and 10% in January.
All regions of Brazil showed recovery in the sector. The survey highlights the results in the North, with growth of 42.7%, and in the Southeast, of 38.1%, which were above the national average.
The Center-West showed an increase of 32.9%, while the Northeast advanced 31.6% and the South, 28.5%.
Another data from the survey points to the average ticket, or price, of sales in malls. In the first quarter, there was a negative variation of 7.6%, with the average falling from R$138.38 to R$127.88.
Comparing with the same period of 2020 and 2019, however, the growth was 9.5% and 13.8% respectively.
There was also an increase in the number of visitors to the malls, which the association attributes to the advancement of vaccination against Covid-19. The flow of visitors increased by 22.3% in January, 24.2% in February and 153% in March, compared to the same months in 2021.
However, the basis for comparison is weak, as it encompasses the period of the second wave of Covid-19 in Brazil and the closures resulting from it.
Abrasce’s outlook for 2022 was revised up after the quarterly data. Before, sales were expected to rise by 13.8% this year, and now the projection is for growth of 17.3%, or 9.2% discounting inflation.
The association’s president, Glauco Humai, says that the increase in the number of visitors and sales indicate that the shopping center sector should not only recover from the effects of the pandemic, but also “with speed” approach the pre-crisis level.
“These are encouraging results that show consumers increasingly returning to shopping malls safely and looking for the leisure we provide. Investors and entrepreneurs in the sector should start to reap more and more fruits in this period of recovery in the sector and 2022 is proving even more promising than we imagined,” she says.
Source: CNN Brasil
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