According to the report, merchants from 1,000 businesses that operate with Mercado Pago agreed that their clients changed consumption habits due to the economic context.
Nine out of 10 businesses SME said they observed changes in their customers’ spending behavior over the past six months, according to the monthly report from “SME Commerce Perspective” of Payment Market– Invecq. This occurs in the midst of a current economic scenariowhere the inflation has already reached double digits and the financial dollars continue to pressure the market due to the strong demand resulting from the attempt to hard currency coverage in the anteroom of the general elections.
According to the report of Mercado Pago-Invecq, the migration towards smaller but more frequent purchases, the priority of finding the lowest price and the search for offers stand out. These new purchasing habits force businesses to adapt their commercial strategies.
Faced with this reality, SME businesses said they adapt their commercial strategy reducing costs of your business (Four. Five%), increasing stock as a reserve of future value (31%) or diversifying the products they offer (25%).
Inflation: which items were most affected
In particular, in the area of food these behavioral changes deepen and expand, which until August accumulated a inflation year-on-year of 133.5%, almost 10 points above the general figure of 124.4%. According to supermarkets, warehouses, bakeries, greengrocers and butchers, the new habits that stand out are: smaller volume but more frequent purchases (44%), the price priority over brands (37%), the search for offers (35%), the choosing basic consumer products over occasional ones (31%) and, to a lesser extent, the preference for stocking in order to beat inflation (11%).
“Businesses are attentive to the needs and behaviors of their customers and develop strategies to adapt to new realities. To sustain their businesses and boost their sales, they look for opportunities to improve their costs, mechanisms to take care of the value of their money and ways to continue attracting customers,” he said. Agustín ViolaSenior Director of SMEs and Entrepreneurs at Mercado Pago.
According to the report, these new customer behaviors affected the daily work of businesses, since 50% stated that their costs increased, 41% stated that sales volume was reduced and 26% indicated that there was less traffic in your trade.
For this reason, businesses had to adapt their commercial strategy, whether reducing your business costs (Four. Five%), increasing stock as a reserve of future value (31%) or diversifying the products they offer (25%). Besides, 67% affirm that they invest their digital balances to generate returns in the Common Investment Fund offered through Mercado Pago.
Source: Ambito
