More than a third (36%) of consumption in classes C and D is concentrated in market expenses. The second largest category on the list, restaurants, accounts for 11% of consumption. As a result, almost half of the expenses at the base of the pyramid are linked to food and, to a lesser extent, personal hygiene and cleaning items.
The data, collected by the fintech Superdigital, from Santander, were obtained exclusively by leaf. The survey was based on the Superdigital database, which covers 700,000 active users across the country who make purchases every month with a credit or debit card. These people are employed under the CLT regime or are temporary workers.
The results reinforce how food inflation is eroding the income of the poorest — in January, the biggest impact of the IPCA-15 (National Index of Consumer Prices 15) came from the food and beverage segment (0.97%), which accelerated compared to the previous month (0.35%).
“We realized that the C and D classes are more apprehensive about spending”, says the CEO of Superdigital, Luciana Godoy. At Christmas, for example, shopping was concentrated in the last eight days of December.
“At Christmas 2020, in turn, these purchases had been made between November and December, already taking advantage of the first installment of the 13th salary”, he says. In addition, this audience consumed 13% less last Christmas compared to December 2020.
In the executive’s opinion, the behavior is related to the lack of consumer confidence in the midst of the health, economic and political crisis. “People are wary, afraid of buying and getting into debt. They wait to see if that expense will fit in their pocket.”
In January, according to Luciana, there was a significant decline in spending compared to December, greater than a year earlier. “But we are still investigating whether this drop is related to a reduction in spending or the greater use of Pix, which has become increasingly popular”, says the executive, noting that Superdigital does not account for instant electronic payments.
“These first three months are very cautious. The work of classes C and D is very much linked to face-to-face and the advance of the ômicron variant at the beginning of the year scared me”, he says.
At the same time, the postponement or cancellation of Carnival festivities in large cities compromises part of these workers’ earnings expectations.
Another important change pointed out by the survey was the search for classes C and D to shop in person. The share of spending on the internet fell from 17% in August to 13% in December.
“This public circulated more in December, hence the increase in transport expenses, which presented the greatest variation in the month – of 9% – compared to November”, says Luciana.
The other segments that grew the most in December compared to the previous month were hotels and motels (8%), supermarkets (8%), clothing stores (7%) and sundries stores (5%).
In the period, there was a drop in the online network segments (which involves purchases through apps or marketplaces, with a decline of 8% in the period), airlines (-5%) and services (-3%).
Regarding expectations for 2022, Luciana believes that the year will be turbulent due to the elections, which tend to undermine the confidence of entrepreneurs and investors.
“But at the same time we see the advancement of vaccination, which is important to ensure face-to-face activities, and the maintenance of the level of hiring in some industries such as civil construction, which are positive factors.”
I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
