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The Statistics Department pointed out that in December 2020, compared to the last month of 2019, the turnover of retail companies decreased by 1 percent.
By breaking down these statistics into individual sectors, we see who has been more successful and who has been less successful.
The turnover of companies that sell food products grew by 4.6 percent. Meanwhile, the turnover of companies that market non-food products and the retail sale of automotive fuels decreased by 1.4% and 11.4%, respectively.
Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min photo / Aytytuštė store shelves on Saturday morning
December is the best time
Alexander Izgorodin, Chief Economist at the non-bank finance company SME Finance 15 minutes He said that the Lithuanian retail sector was less sensitive at the beginning of the second quarantine than during the first.
In March of last year, the decrease in the turnover of the retail trade in Lithuania amounted to 5.3 percent, compared to 1 percent. in December.
According to the economist, this is mainly due to the very different results of retail sales of non-food products in March and December. In the last month of 2020, the drop in the turnover of these companies, as mentioned, was 1.4 percent, while in March it reached 13.2 percent.
According to Izgorodin, this could have been caused by two things.
“As there was a significant increase in the incidence of COVID-19 in Lithuania between November and December and a second quarantine regime was discussed, part of the population could rush to buy non-food items, including Christmas gifts, before the introduction from quarantine.. ” 15 minutes said the expert.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Alexander Izgorodin
According to him, this segment was protected from online decline by trading online in December.
In December 2020, compared to the same month in 2019, the volume of online retail in Lithuania increased by 84.2%. – especially in 2020.
Obviously, both stores and shoppers have adapted, as December is a month when both basic necessities and Christmas gifts are needed.
At the time, retailer Justas Gavėnas’ relatively good December sales figures were not surprising.
“December is historically the best time for all traders for many years in a row”, 15 minutes he said.
According to him, it is clear from the data that the not-so-bad retail statistics were determined by the turnover of grocery stores.
Meanwhile, non-food trade statistics improved thanks to the ability to shop online, as stores were closed for about half a month, the expert said.
Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / Justas Gavėnas
“It is obvious that both stores and buyers have adapted, because December is a month when both basic necessities and Christmas gifts are needed,” said J. Gavėnas.
Over the years, the turnover has grown
For the whole of 2020, the turnover of the Lithuanian retail trade, compared to 2019, was 2.5 percent. larger.
Ironically, A. Izgorodin stated that this was significantly influenced by the non-essential goods segment, where in 2020 it registered 6%. growth, despite the fact that shopping centers have been closed twice.
Lithuanian consumers have the financial resources to consume, consumer expectations quickly recovered after the first quarantine shock and only continued to improve at the beginning of the second quarantine.
According to the economist, these data correlate well with the Bank of Lithuania’s figures on deposits by Lithuanian residents in banks, which reached an all-time high of LTL 17.3 billion. and Lithuania statistics on the best expectations of consumers in the European Union.
“Lithuanian consumers have financial resources for consumption, consumer expectations quickly recovered after the first quarantine shock, and at the beginning of the second quarantine they only continued to improve,” said A. Izgorodin.
J. Gavėnas predicted that in early 2021 we will probably not see any significant change in the commercial sector.
Photo by Lukas Balandus / Ž.ltės.lt / Aleksandras Izgorodinas
“In the first quarter, the figures will be relatively lower, especially since it will not be possible to make large sales in January and February, which will not allow companies to increase their turnover,” said the expert.
“The development of the situation will depend on how we manage the pandemic,” he added.
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