Istat numbers certify how the impact of price increases affects retail sales: you spend more to buy less
Italians continue to deal with theinflation and this means that they find themselves spending more to buy less, getting to “cut” on everything, even on eating. I state dates they certify the drop in consumption and how the impact of price increases is causing a worsening of retail sales. In March there was no change in terms of value while those in volume decreased by 0.3% compared to the previous month. In particular, it is striking that for food goods the drop in volume is stronger (-0.7%) than for non-food products (-0.1)%.
Decline in sales volumes The race in prices is even more evident if the comparison is made with the data for March 2022: retail sales are up by 5.8% in value but down by 2.9% in volume. Trends of a similar sign are found both for the sales of food goods (+7.7% in value and -4.9% in volume), and for non-food goods (+4.1% in value and -1.3% by volume).
The e-commerce race continues Once again, e-commerce takes the lion’s share with an increase in value of 10.3% compared to March last year, just as large-scale distribution marks a growth of 7.8% beating the shops of neighborhood and minimarkets (+3.5%).
Codacons: “Urgent action to control price lists” Consumer associations are counting how much families have been forced to cut spending and are asking the government for anti-inflation measures. For Codacons, “net of inflation and considering household consumption expenditure, purchases fall in volume by a total of 21.8 billion euros per year, with lower spending equal to an average of -848 euros per family” warns the association that asks the government to “intervene urgently to control price lists and save household budgets”.
Assoutenti invokes anti-inflation decree Assoutenti points the finger at expensive food and calls for an “anti-inflation decree” which includes the strengthening of the Price Guarantor and a zeroing of VAT on basic necessities. “Net of inflation – calculates Assoutenti – the food expenditure of Italians drops by 7.1 billion euros on an annual basis, with an average reduction of 377 euros if we consider a household with two children”.
Adoc: “More and more Italians are reducing the amount of food” Italians “give up basic necessities, reduce the amount of food in their trolleys and resort to discount stores” affirms the Adoc, hoping that the convening of the rapid alert commission on prices, scheduled for May 11, will be “the opportunity to explore the inflation dynamics that are burning wages, pensions and savings”.
Federdistribuzione: “Protecting the purchasing power of families” The government’s intervention is also being requested by trade organizations with Federdistribuzione which considers it a priority to protect the purchasing power of families to encourage “the recovery of internal demand and guarantee stability for our companies and the many Made in Italy agri-food supply chains” .
Confcommercio alarm “The tendential change in volume of total retail sales is -3% in the first quarter of the current year. Which does not leave us completely calm about the short-term prospects of the Italian economy”, explains Confcommercio instead.
Confesercenti: “Reduce tax burden” Finally, for Confesercenti, “the worst data is recorded for small shops, with an estimate that goes beyond -5% in three months, always in terms of volume”. And if the association welcomes the cut in the tax wedge, it warns against the risk that it will be “insufficient” if not accompanied by a reduction in the “tax burden on workers through the tax exemption of wage increases”.