Super Casas Bahia promises to fight for Christmas sales
DCI
With the end of the year around the corner, start the arrangements for the greatest retail event of a single chain, Super Casas Bahia - leader in sales of home appliances and furniture of the Country, with more than 500 stores. According to Michael Klein, Executive Officer of Casas Bahia, the sixth edition of the mega store that several booths and products at the Anhembi Park Exhibition Hall, in São Paulo, and a second edition in the city of Rio de Janeiro, are already confirmed for this year and should increase the sales of the company that achieved R$ 13.9 billion (US$ 7.6 billion) last year.
Klein affirmed, after his presentation at the Forum of Debates sponsored by Franklin Covey Brasil, yesterday, in São Paulo, that the sales of the chain this year have been sustained compared to last year's. According to the executive, it is expected that the reduction of the Excise Tax (IPI) be postponed again, stimulating the sales of white line goods, for example.
On the other side, for the end of the year, the hope is that the megastores of Super Casas Bahia have great sales again. "With the megastores we were able to sell almost R$ 100 million (US$ 54.6 million) in nearly only 40 days and we will do it again in Rio de Janeiro this year", he says. In São Paulo, the forecast is that the space is open on the 1st of December and stays open until January 9, 2010.
Last year, Super Casas Bahia sold nearly R$ 83 million (US$ 45.4 million) in the capital of São Paulo, being visited by 1.2 million people. In Rio de Janeiro, however, where it occurred for the first time, the sales amounted to R$ 50 million (US$ 27.3 million), with a public of 350 thousand people. According to Klein, the company continues betting on the offer of credit to attract and to obtain the loyalty of the clients and it has been increasing it credit card basis, with 5.7 million of activations.
This year, a retrospective of the chain shows that Casas Bahia also took some projects, such as the entrance in the e-commerce, off the drawer and that should also increase the year-end sales. The expectation is that until February, the channel represents 2% of the net earnings. In order to implement the e-commerce, the chain invested R$ 3.7 million (US$ 2.2 million) and followed the steps of other major retailers that were not operating on the Internet yet, in Brazil, such as Walmart.