BRASÍLIA: Brazilian shopping malls are wrapping up 2016 with 140.5 billion BRL in sales. While it may seem like a lot, shopping mall sales are actually down 3.2 percent from 2015. This marks Brazil’s first fall in sales since the Brazilian Association of Shopping Malls (Alshop) began collecting data in 2004. Alshop also points to a 12.9 percent dip in the number of stores this year. As we near the end of 2016, the number of stores is at 121,600 while last year the association reported 139,700 stores. Again, this is the first decrease in the number of stores since the first retail data collection in 2004. Alshop attributes this decline to the opening of fewer shopping malls in 2016. According to the business association, 2015 saw 25 shopping mall inaugurations, whereas 2016 had only 19. With such low sales rates, Alshop’s president believes that recently-opened shopping malls are likely still facing poor business.
Christmas sales were also down for the third year in a row. In relation to 2015, sales from the 18th to 24th of December this year were down by 1.46 percent. However, this decline is at least an improvement from last year’s sharp downturn of 15.84 percent from 2014 to 2015. According to Brazil’s Confederation of Store Owners (CNDL), this improvement indicates that the worst of the recession is behind us.
Indeed, Brazilians still bought Christmas presents – they were just smaller. “Consumers worry about compromising their budget with payment installments; that’s why they opted for cheaper presents they could pay up front,” CNDL’s president told the Brazilian press. “With access to credit more limited than ever, high interest rates, inflation and high unemployment, Brazilians’ buying power is much more limited for expensive purchases.” The fall in Christmas sales was less significant than during other holidays. The biggest dips in holiday sales occurred over Mother’s Day (-16.4 percent), Valentine’s Day (-15.23 percent), and Children’s Day (-9.02 percent). Father’s Day saw the smallest dip in sales, with 7.15 percent less than 2015.