The Ministry of Economy said that a quarter of the Salvadoran population buys in convenience stores.
Colony stores move in sales about $4.7 million a day, according to estimates from the Ministry of Economy (Minec).
Our stores mobilize a figure of approximately $4.7 million on a daily basis, which is where the importance of these stores in this country is shown, said this Thursday María Luisa Hayem, Minister of Economy, during the announcement of an investment of$6.4 millionbetween the U.S. government and the cbc beverage giant to boost the growth of these business units.
Hayem said that a quarter of the Salvadoran population buys basic necesssities in stores, so they are – important to the economy as well as for the experience of Salvadoran households.
Traditional stores are the main points of sales of the big distributors, in addition to serving for the meeting of the community and the first place where basic necessities are supplied.
In El Salvador there are more than 70,000 stores where more than 1.7 million Salvadorans buy food, household items and other basic goods.
Thus, the $3.2 million project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and $3.2 million per cbc (Livsmart) will support 44,000 stores to boost their growth and access to funding.
A glimpse into the economy of the stores
The last barometer of the stores, carried out by the consultant dichter & neira, revealed that theexpenditurein El Salvadoraveraged $1.65 between April and August 2024. The bill is higher in the central region, at $1.81, while in the east it is $1.47 and in the West of $1.58.
This study noted that 77 per cent of purchases in stores correspond to only one product, compared to 15 % with two categories and 5 % of transactions of up to three items.
The most important slots for neighborhood shops are between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., as well as from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., representing 24 percent of all shopping. The biggest shopping days are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with 46 percent of transactions.
TheDemand in stores is concentrated on soda, snacks, juices, nectars, beers and phone cardsas well as industrial pastry, instant coffee, sweet biscuits, cigarettes and bottled water.
Isotonic drinks appear in the top 10 categories most traded in the West and do not appear in the other regions. Already for the east appears consomé and broths, says the report.
Other details of the dynamics of the stores:
- The average ticket in stores is $1.81.
- The weekend is more important for stores in the central area, with 27 percent of sales.
- 70 per cent of transactions in central area stores are of one category and 26 per cent of up to three products.
- 22 percent of store transactions in the West are performed between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
This article has been translated after first appearing in Diario El Mundo