Sales for Mother’s Day in malls in the country are expected to grow 19% compared to 2021, according to a survey by the Brazilian Association of Shopping Centers (Abrasce).
According to the survey, the sector should surpass pre-pandemic levels, with a forecast of a 12% increase compared to 2019, a real growth of 2.5%, the first recorded after the beginning of the health crisis.
Abrasce’s research indicates that, between the 1st and 8th of May, malls should move around R$ 4.9 billion.
Among the establishments surveyed, 94% have positive expectations for Mother’s Day and 72% believe that sales should exceed the results of 2019.
For Gilberto Braga, economist professor at Ibmec, the high projection is related to the broader return of purchases in physical stores.
“This will be a Mother’s Day entirely with the possibility of physical purchases. In the last two, we didn’t have that possibility. In 2020, sales were strongly, or exclusively, online, because society was going through a moment of social isolation and 2021 was still the beginning of vaccination, with most of the economically active population with restrictions in terms of mobility”, says.
Also according to him, the performance of trade on that date can be an important indicator of the economy. “The optimistic expectation for Mother’s Day may be a good sign of a resumption, since it is the second date, in terms of sales, after Christmas and that will give a good indicator of the rest of the year 2022. Show if we will have or not a slightly stronger reaction from the economy, despite inflation and very high interest rates”, says Braga.
Average ticket and visitor circulation should also grow
According to the survey, this year, the average purchase ticket in malls should be over R$250, which represents an increase of 17.4% compared to what was recorded on Mother’s Day 2021 (R$213). Among the products that should have the greatest prominence on the commemorative date are perfumery and cosmetics (95%), clothing (81%), jewelry (73%) and footwear (71%).
About the movement of visitors, 79% of malls believe that the number should be equal to or greater than 2019. For those who expect this increase in circulation, the increase will be 12%, on average.
According to the president of Abrasce, Glauco Humai, the monitoring of the numbers of January, February and March show that the level of sales has been growing, accompanied by the number of regulars.
“The last quarter was one of constant growth, back to the mall and vehicle circulation. So, despite the macroeconomic scenario and the country’s indicators are not the best either, we have noticed a recovery. With all this, the sector believes that Mother’s Day will be able to move the economy”, he says.
The Abrasce survey was carried out between April 19 and 26, 2022, with the objective of identifying the sector’s expectations regarding marketing, visitor flow, average ticket and other indicators for the week of Mother’s Day.
Fabio Bentes, economist at the National Confederation of Commerce in Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC), says that the growth in sales in malls signals a recovery in a sector greatly affected by social isolation.
“The scenario of falling income, high inflation and high interest rates would not allow an increase in sales, but when we look at specific cases, such as malls, which suffered more from the restrictions of the pandemic, this increase is understandable. And if inflation and interest rates weren’t so high today, this rise could be even greater”, says the economist.
However, according to Bentes, some categories should have a better result than others. “In the case of home appliances, electronics, there should be a drop of at least 9%, because they depend a lot on the availability of credit. Clothing should grow very strong, cosmetics and perfumeries too. And at this point, this souvenir retailer gains an advantage, because it has a lower average price and is more accessible”, says Bentes.
* Under supervision of Pauline Almeida
Source: CNN Brasil
