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.
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.
Brands offering a deeper and more emotional added value, delivering to their customers with immediacy and executing business strategies from a more local perspective are the most likely to succeed in this new commercial reality.
The outbreak of covid-19 and the mobility restrictions imposed by this pandemic significantly changed consumer behavior and perceptions of brands.
Taking advantage of shortages to sell at high prices and visualizing the benefits to companies of strategies that demonstrate social empathy in difficult times are some of the lessons learned during 2020, which was highlighted by the health and economic crisis.
The spread of covid-19 suddenly transformed the global business landscape. Ariel Banos, founder of Fijaciondeprecios.com, has identified five lessons that companies learned in terms of price management, in this context of changing commercial reality.
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.
Maintaining proper inventories to meet demand, having a robust logistics system and an electronic sales channel that protects your customers when they make a purchase, are part of the challenges that businesses face in this new reality.
With "Black Friday" and Christmas approaching, commercial establishments in the region are beginning to apply their sales and promotion strategies, with which they will try to recover part of their income.
Greater preference for private brands, less use of cash and fewer purchases but in higher volumes, are some of the characteristics of current consumer behavior when it comes to demanding mass consumption products.
In this new business scenario, market research companies continue to focus on understanding the new consumption habits of people in all countries in the region.
Understanding audiences and visualizing the client as the center and reason for the company's existence is fundamental to adapting business models to the new commercial reality.
The statistics, trends and projections that were used to analyze and define business models and strategies before the pandemic lost their validity due to the emergence of a new economic and commercial reality.
Although in Central America the period of mandatory confinement has been exceeded, it is still a priority for consumers in the region to spend their free time in their homes and to devote themselves to household cleaning and home cooking.
It has been six months since the first cases of covid-19 were detected in the region. When the outbreaks began, governments chose to subject consumers to strict household quarantines, a measure that affected not only the economy but also people's behavior in the medium term.
With the change in the configuration of the markets and businesses, companies must think clearly, adapt to the new rules of the game and avoid, as far as possible, immediately implementing the policy of low prices.
The economic crisis resulting from the outbreak of covid-19 has changed the rules of the game in the markets at a global level. Some companies, in their attempt to stay in business, have opted to lower their prices, even to levels where they could incur losses.
Given the need to understand customer behavior in the digital environment, together with the urgency for companies to promote remote work, an ideal scenario has been created for the demand for cloud services to increase exponentially.
The spread of covid-19 caused a considerable change in people's habits. Remote work has become a daily routine among companies in the region, which have had to adapt to the restrictions imposed since March, when the first infections were reported.
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.
In the new business scenario consumers have increased the demand for household disinfection products, fruits, vegetables, vitamins and medicines, consumption patterns that could be maintained in the medium and long term.
When the first cases of covid-19 were reported in Central America in March, the first reaction of people was to make compulsive purchases.
Manufacturers and farmers who deliver directly to their homes, Facebook profiles, Instragram, WhatsApp, neighbors or acquaintances who distribute food or household products, are some of the new sales channels that have emerged in this new business context.
The new business normality that emerged in an accelerated manner in Central America, due to the outbreak of covid-19 and the imposition of social distancing measures, favored the conditions for new marketing channels to be born in the different markets.
The abrupt change in consumer habits forced companies to digitalize their operations and sales, but the challenges do not stop there, as companies will have to implement effective logistics systems to reach their customers.
Reduction in advertising and marketing budgets in companies and an increase in the preference for investment in television campaigns are part of the changes that are being reported in the context of the new commercial reality.
Radical changes in the ways people relate to each other, new consumer habits and the home confinement decreed by the pandemic have led to a transformation in the advertising sector.
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