They have raised prices, often higher than inflation, absorbed the IVA cut by making more profit, shrunk the size of items whilst increasing prices, and now, supermarkets are getting concerned because consumers are not falling for their profiteering scams.
The growing inflation and the impact it has on our purchasing power is leading the industry to fear a real drop or stagnation in sales for the remainder of the year.
More than 70% of companies dedicated to the manufacturing and distribution of consumer products are taking measures to address this decline in sales, and one of them is to promote and offer some products, although some supermarkets are still overinflating prices in order to falsely claim they are then reduced, and still they are getting away with it. A simple price comparison on any of the websites will easily reveal this to be true.
Consumers are buying into the offers, so much so that loyalty is taking a beating, and shoppers no longer hesitate to take advantage of each and every one of the offers they find in supermarkets, even though this means having to buy in different establishments at the same time.
In addition to this growing interest in promotions, the Aecoc employers’ association portal also points out that users are increasingly opting for white label products.
Along with the decrease in the consumption of products and the search for offers, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) also points out the decrease that has occurred in the sales of energy and intermediate goods, which fell by 40.8% and 11 .7% respectively, which has led to the industry also experiencing a notable drop in its turnover, with a decrease of 7% in June compared to the same month of the previous year.
Regarding the services sector, data recorded in June showed a 0.7% decrease in billing compared to the same month of the previous year, ending 27 consecutive months of year-on-year increases.
It is clear that the current economic situation is changing the way people consume, which requires that businesses and supermarkets seek an innovative and planned solution to adjust to this new economic reality that leads us to look almost with a magnifying glass. the price of everything we buy and that ultimately leads to a drop in consumption.
Of course, there is a simple answer for many of these supermarkets, and that is to stop profiteering and provide consumers with a fairer price for the products they need, without false offers, and with regular price cuts that benefits all consumers.
