However, Minas Gerais trade entrepreneurs are confident about sales in the first half of 2020. Although the vast majority (74%) bet on a better performance for the sector, compared to the second half of 2019.
Optimism is mainly influenced by Mother's Day (41.5%), considered the most profitable commemorative date for trade in the period.
Sales Expectations
This is a finding of the Sales Expectation survey, prepared by the Economic Studies area of fecommerce MG.
The survey points out that other commemorative dates such as Carnival (24.1%), Valentine's Day (16.5%) and Easter (13.4%) should also contribute to sales growth in the first half of 2020.
The analysis highlights that advertisements and disclosures will continue to be the main measure for attracting customers in the period.
According to the economist at Fecomércio MG, Bárbara Guimarães, betting on sales actions such as advertisements, promotions and commemorative dates have been advantageous for trade, especially in the last half of 2019.
“We observed that around 47% of the interviewees stated that the sales volume improved in the second half, compared to the same period of 2018. If we compare it to the first half of the previous year, around 57% of the entrepreneurs noticed a significant increase in sales”, he explains .
Good Prospects
Also according to the survey, optimism/hope was the reason cited by 68.6% of entrepreneurs to justify the good prospects. “This perception is also supported by the improvement in economic indicators.
Thus, some segments, such as stationery stores, building materials and articles for personal and domestic use, are usually more in demand in the first six months of the year, which reinforces this expectation of optimism among businessmen”, emphasizes the economist.
To increase the sector, 34.9% of entrepreneurs will invest in media and advertising actions, 34.7% intend to carry out promotional and liquidation actions and 21.5% are betting on a differentiated service to leverage sales.
The form of payment that should stand out in the semester is the credit card, a modality indicated by 50.7% of the entrepreneurs.
The survey also found that the main obstacles to consumption should be the country's economic moment (28.6%); other reasons such as the increase in meat prices, the dollar, fuel prices, municipal elections (22.8%) and unfair competition, indicated by 12.7% of respondents.
The survey was carried out between January 3 and 20, 2020. In all, 396 companies were evaluated, at least 40 in each of the ten planning regions of Minas Gerais. The margin of error for the analysis is 5%, with a confidence interval of 95%.
