Commerce, Istat: “In the first quarter the value of sales + 6.3%”. Small shops are recovering, but there is an alarm on foodstuffs

ROME. In the first quarter of 2022, retail sales increased – in terms of value – by 6.3% compared to the same period of 2021, with a recovery for businesses operating on small surfaces (+ 8.5%).

This was reported by Istat, underlining that large-scale distribution recorded a + 5% (+ 2.1% for food, + 11.4% for non-food). Small shops recorded increases (again in value) for non-food products (+ 11.6%) while food products recorded a -0.9%.

Out-of-store sales recorded + 4.3% on the previous quarter (+ 7% in March on the same month of 2021), while e-commerce lost 0.9% in value (-3.9% in March 2022 on March 2021).

The appeal of Assoutenti and Coldiretti for food
On the “minus” sign of food sales, Assoutenti highlights: “The drop in food sales recorded in March is an alarming fact that must lead the government to adjust the game and take immediate measures”. Compared to last year, «the sales volume has suffered a drop of -6%. Numbers that attest to the existence of an emergency on the family front, with citizens forced to reduce consumption even for primary goods such as food ». This situation “is weighed down by the increases in bills and retail prices, which have a direct impact on the purchases of Italians”, explains the president Furio Truzzi. “Today’s Istat data – he concludes – demonstrate the need for the Government to resort to administered prices at least for food, in order to counter speculation and skyrocketing inflation and prevent families from starving, reducing even more shopping for food », concludes Truzzi.

The increase in retail prices in March ranged from + 23.3% of seed oil to + 6.2% of ice cream, but fresh vegetables also increased on the shelves, with prices rising for 17.8%, slightly ahead of butter (+ 17.4%), pasta (+ 13%) seafood (+ 10.8%), flour (+ 10%) chicken meat (+ 8.4%), fresh fruit (+ 8.1%), and fresh fish (+ 7.6%). “In contrast to the trend – underlines Coldiretti – only low cost food purchases fly with food discount stores which show a jump of + 7.6% in sales in value”. And the data on discount stores “highlights precisely the difficulty in which Italian families find themselves who, driven by price increases, direct their spending on low-priced channels and essential goods”.

The Consumers Union: “It’s just a mirage”
Massimiliano Dona, president of the National Consumers Union, argues that “this increase on an annual basis is just a mirage, an optical effect due for more than half to inflation and for the other part to the fact that last year it was still in full pandemic and many businesses, such as shopping centers, were closed on weekends ». The only positive aspect – he acknowledges – «is that, according to our study, March sales in value, in the seasonally adjusted data, remain even higher both in comparison with those of February 2020, the last pre-lockdown month, with + 2.6% , which compared to January 2020, the last pre-pandemic month, with + 3.8%. Sales in positive territory also compared to three years earlier, ie in March 2019, + 4.4% in raw data “,