Sales grow in October and commerce expects Christmas better than foreseen
Valor Econômico
Two indicators released yesterday show the sales in the retail resumed growing in October. In São Paulo, Children's day boosted the credit sales in October, which registered growth of 11% compared to the same month of last year. That's what shows the inquiries made by retailers to the Central Service of Protection to Credit (SCPC) in the period. As regards the inquiries made to the SCPC/Cheque (sales with payment at sight made by check), they increased 8% in the same basis for comparison. In the whole country, the commercial activity increased 1.6% in October compared to September, driven, among other factors, by the 1.7% increase in the movement of the markets, evaluated the Experian Serasa Indicator of Commercial Activity.
"The sales continue going well and they reaffirm we are going to have a better-than-expected Christmas", expects the President of Commercial Association of São Paulo (ACSP), Alencar Burti. In the assessment of the entity, the sales in October reflect the continued growth of credit, the extension of the terms for payment made by the retail in the area of durable consumer goods, and the large offer of imported goods at attractive prices. In the evaluation of economists of Serasa Experian, the acceleration in October confirms the trend of consolidation of the pace of growth of the consumption in the last quarter this year, "signaling Christmas in 2010 should register excellent performance in terms of sales in the retail".
The positive variation in the commercial activity measured by the Serasa indicator was pulled by the growth in the activities in supermarkets, hypermarkets, foods and beverages and the 0.9% growth in the segment of furniture, electric and electronic devices and computers, in view of the favorable credit conditions the consumer has still found while purchasing such products. In third place stayed the segment of construction material, which grew 0.5%. In the annual comparison, the growth in commercial activity was of 9.2%, pulled by the construction segment (increase of 17.8%), and followed by the group comprising furniture, electric and electronic devices and computers (growth of 11.8%). On this basis of comparison, the activity in the supermarkets ranked third with an increase of 7.9%.
In the period from January to October there was growth of 9.9% compared to the same period in 2009. The segments of construction materials and furniture, electric and electronic equipment and computers appear as leaders in the growth of the retail operations in 2010, with accumulated increases of 16.9% and 15.5% respectively. The sector of vehicles, motorcycles and auto parts, with growth of 13.6%, also registers fairly favorable performance in the accumulated in 2010.