Big Data technological tools and spatial data play a very important role in business by measuring footfall and helping to understand consumer behavior patterns in any given area of interest or point of sale.
Between March and April, Walmart opened five new stores of the Palí format, located in Heredia, San José, Alajuela, Cartago and Guanacaste.
The supermarket chain informed that the company invested close to $6.7 million to open these five new stores. With these recent openings, there are now 181 points of sale of the Palí format.
In the first week of April 2021, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominican Republic and Guatemala were the countries in the region where the number of people visiting establishments identified as supermarkets was higher than the figures reported before the pandemic.
Over the course of the months and in the context of the reactivation of commercial activities, more Central American consumers have visited locations identified as supermarkets and pharmacies.
Finding out how many people live in the surroundings of the establishment, their income levels, their ages and their tastes and interests, is fundamental information to measure the potential of a supermarket's location.
Using the Geomarketing solutions we have developed for our clients, CentralAmericaData's Business Intelligence team analyzed the environment of some of the main supermarket locations operating in Central American countries. Below is an excerpt of the study's findings.
After investing $17 million, Walmart opened a new store to the public on July 10, in the canton of San Pablo, province of Heredia.
This new location becomes the 14th store that the chain will operate under the Walmart format and for the operation of this supermarket, the company will hire 123 people, said the official statement.
In April, the Walmart chain invested nearly $8.5 million in the construction and opening of four new stores in Costa Rica.
The company reported that three sales points operate under the Pali format and are located in Ipis de Goicoechea, Guayabo de Bagaces and Dulce Nombre de Cartago. The other establishment operates under the brand Maxi Pali and is located in Los Guido, Desamparados.
Glovo, a company dedicated to home delivery, opened its first digital supermarket in the country, through which it will serve its customers located in San Jose.
The company reported that the supermarket will be available in the application already accessed by its customers and said the plan is that in the coming weeks will increase the number of products available.
After investing $3 million, the Super Selectos chain opened a new 2,000-square-meter point of sale in the El Encuentro shopping center in the municipality of San Miguel.
Directors of Grupo Callejas, a business conglomerate that owns the supermarket chain, reported that the new sales point has 35,000 available products, a bakery with fresh products, meats, fruits and vegetables.
After investing $17.5 million, PriceSmart opened a new branch in the nation's capital, located in the Metro Park shopping complex.
The new supermarket is located on a 17,368 square meter lot, and has a construction area of 7,295 square meters, of which 4,577 are dedicated to the sales floor.
Walmart opened a new sales point under the Maxi Despensa format, in La Libertad, and required a $4 million investment.
Walmart representatives informed that the new Maxi Despensa Campos Verdes is located in a total area of 1,833 square meters, of which 1,436 square meters correspond to the sales room.
Walmart plans to invest $48 million in Guatemala during 2019, of which $25 million will be used to open new stores and remodel existing ones.
According to information provided by representatives of Walmart, the investment projected for this year in the country will double that invested in 2018, since last year the amount disbursed totaled $24 million.
In Costa Rica about 30% of supermarkets are in San Jose, Guatemala, the metropolitan area concentrates 45% of establishments, while in Panama, 32% are in West Panama.
An analysis of the Trade Intelligence area of CentralAmericaData provides interesting results on where they are located, who they are, if they operate independently or if they belong to a chain or business group.
New stores, remodeling and a distribution center are what Walmart plans to develop in the next two years in the country, with an estimated investment of $200 million.
María Marta Rodríguez, coordinator of Corporate Affairs at Walmart, explained to Elnuevodiario.com.ni that they plan to open four new stores this year requiring an investment of $106 million, and in 2018 another $100 million is planned to be invested.
The growing influx of tourists in Guanacaste is one of the factors that is encouraging supermarket chains to increase the number of branches in the province.
The growing influx of international tourists to beaches in Guanacaste has increased the attractiveness of the province for the commercial sector, particularly supermarkets.According to Elfinancierocr.com,"...Super Compro (owned by Gessa) has 23 stores in Guanacaste, which makes it the chain with the most stores in the province, followed by Palí (Walmart) with 13 and Megasuper with 7."
The supermarket chain has announced that it is preparing to open twelve new stores in 2016, including one in the Walmart format in Tegucigalpa, in which it plans to invest $12 million.
Currently the American supermarket chain Walmart operates 82 outlets in Honduras, and expects to close 2016 with at least 100 stores in four formats that it is currently operating.In the case of the larger format store, Walmart, Hernan Muntaner, vice president of Perishables and Agroindustrial Development for Walmart of Mexico and Central America, told Laprensa.hn that"... 'the project will be built in Tegucigalpa, with an estimated investment of 12 million dollars between land and construction'."