Supermarkets: Which Countries Are Back to "Normal"?

At the end of January 2021, Nicaragua and El Salvador were the only two countries in the region where the number of people visiting establishments identified as supermarkets was similar to the figures reported before the pandemic.

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

As the months have gone by and in the context of the reactivation of commercial activities, more Central American consumers have visited locations identified as supermarkets and pharmacies.

According to Google data included in the "Monitoring system of markets and economic situation in Central American countries", prepared by CentralAmericaData's Commercial Intelligence area, during January 2021 in some of the countries of the region, the number of consumers visiting these types of stores are already similar to the levels recorded prior to the pandemic.

(Image taken from the interactive report)


The Commercial Intelligence solution details that in the last week of January, Nicaraguan supermarkets reported a 3% increase in the number of people who visited these stores, when compared to the levels recorded prior to the beginning of the health crisis.

According to the interactive report, between the beginning of March and the last week of March, the number of Salvadoran consumers visiting supermarkets dropped by 4%. In Honduras, a drop of 11% was reported, in Guatemala the decrease was 14% and in Costa Rica 15%.

Panamanian consumers are the most reluctant to make purchases in physical supermarkets, since in the last days of January in Panama there was a 38% drop. This drop is explained by the restrictions on mobility imposed by local authorities.

Although the drops in the number of consumers shopping in the physical stores of supermarket chains are still considerable, they are far from the declines of up to 70% that were recorded in April 2020.

Click here to access this report.

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More on this topic

Central America: Visits to Supermarkets Increase

April 2021

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.

Supermarkets: Back to "Normal "?

November 2020

Following the implementation of the economic reopening process, in early November in some countries of the region the number of people visiting establishments identified as supermarkets was similar to the figures reported before the pandemic.

In mid-April 2020, the concentration of people in residential areas of cities reached its highest level, a situation explained by the mobility restrictions imposed by the covid-19 outbreak.

Consumers Return to Supermarkets

September 2020

As part of the gradual reopening of commercial activities, an increase in the number of people who have moved to locations identified as supermarkets or pharmacies was reported in Central American countries during August.

Due to the quarantines decreed by the covid-19 outbreak, in mid-April the concentration of people in residential areas of cities reached its highest level, but in recent months this trend has been reversed and consumers have visited more stores. During August, the process of returning to supermarkets accelerated in most markets.

Consumers Move Away from Supermarkets Again

July 2020

Until the beginning of June, Central American countries reported a rise in the number of people who moved to locations identified as supermarkets or pharmacies, however, in recent weeks the trend was reversed.

According to data from Google incorporated into the "System for monitoring markets and the economic situation in Central American countries", developed by the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData, in Panama, where due to the spread of covid-19 the measures of isolation and restriction of mobility have begun to harden in some areas, it has become evident that as of June 24th the visits to establishments identified as supermarkets or pharmacies have fallen.

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