The phrase "you have to spend the winter" is turning six decades these days. It was pronounced by the then Minister of Economy Álvaro Alsogaray, but it is still valid in the era of the digital economy.
As if it were some Kingdom of Game of Thrones, this "winter" has already been in the minds and pockets of the Argentines for several years, who face every day an inflation that continues to rise and that was almost 50% last year.
By 2019, the forecasts are not encouraging. In February, last month relieved by the Indec, the Consumer Price Index accumulated 8.1%. Not even Caring Prices, a program that survived the Kirchnerism to try to control the rise in the cost of living, managed to turn the curve downwards.
As an update, the Government launched Precios Claros three years ago, a platform that allows users to consult on the web the amounts of the products of the basic basket and in which supermarkets can be obtained.
This allowed independent developers to "raise" that information for their "apps", such as the possibility of finding the closest merchant with the lowest price or reading the bar codes to speed up the search.
Thus, they helped that more and more Argentines turn to technology to win an epic battle: save on the products of the basic basket and so they can stretch their salaries as much as possible. Of course you have to travel more than one business to achieve this goal.
Luis Alfredo Rodríguez, Shopper & Analytics Mr. Manager of Kantar Worldpanel, confirms to iProUP this trend: "The Argentine consumer is 'multishopper', that is to say, he combines between proximity, supermarkets and wholesalers".
According to the executive, supermarkets and hypermarkets account for 32% of the spending of Argentines with medium or high incomes who, by the way, are always attentive to finding new ways that allow them to maximize the return on their money.
The lowest price
As that information is open, a series of apps have appeared that take advantage of that information to show it in a more friendly way.
One of them is "Donde Compro", created as a kind of hobby by the Argentinean Kevin Furman, iOS Application Developer of the online tourism agency Despegar.
"Where I buy relieves the 25 supermarkets closest to your home, which are less than 4 km, depending on the concentration of shops in the area," the entrepreneur tells iProUP exclusively.
"Something that is your own innovation, which is not on the Government's website, is the possibility of putting together a tour that tells you: first buy this in this supermarket, then this in this mini-market, etc.", completes.
Those who own the app can also scan barcodes, before buying a product in a store, to see if it is cheaper elsewhere or if the published amount is respected. Otherwise, the user can claim and even has a button to report it in Consumer Protection.
"In some categories there is a lot of price difference, like wines, where you can see gaps of up to 40%," he adds.
At the moment, it's only available for iPhone or iPad, but Furman is looking for a partner to take it to Android users. The latter also have, with Buying, an application with similar functions.
Contactless
For the past year, Mastercard has been betting on contactless, a new card technology that allows you to make purchases without a vendor sliding the card into a POS device.
That is, the consumer supports the plastic in a terminal without the need to sign a payment coupon for purchases of up to $ 1,000, which speeds up the process and helps the tails to move faster.
The signing of the two circles tipped with this new modality, which this year are also incorporating Visa and American Express.
To promote its development and take advantage of its competitive advantage, Mastercard launches the "Contactless Week" every month, with heavy discounts in shops. As confirmed by the company to iProUP, in April it will take place between the 13th and the 19th, during which it will be possible to obtain reductions of 30%, cumulative with other banking promotions.
The merchants are Carrefour Express, Walmart, Farmacity, Havanna, Galerias Pacifico, Le Pain Quotidienne, Tea Connection, Green Eat, El Mundo Del Juguete and Open 25, among others. Fuel may also be charged at YPF service stations that have these terminals and access to 25% (also cumulative) with a discount cap of $ 500.
QR on the rise
The virtual wallets began their rhythm of ascending rhythm in 2018 and this year they continue to consolidate thanks to the use of QR.
In this sense, the one that more acceptance is experiencing is Mercado Pago, which advances on two types of businesses that the Argentine middle class uses more frequently:
- The so-called "proximity" - that is, self-service and mini-markets - for day-to-day purchases, especially fresh food
- Wholesalers, to stock up on non-perishable food and hygiene and cleaning products, in order to "beat" the next price increases
Those who buy in these establishments may pay up to six installments without interest, which is not offered by supermarkets.
But, in addition, users can access additional discounts.
- On the one hand, each time they make any purchase with Mercado Pago, they are given a game: shake their cell phone and access discounts of between 10 and 50 percent
- On the other, with the first operation they achieve 5%. The chains that already offer it are Vital, Maxiconsumo and Yaguar. Makro and Diarco are in the process of implementation
"Payments with QR have been growing exponentially in number of unique users, transactions and participation", says Gonzalo Pestana, financial director of Vital, who says that this modality advances at a monthly rate of 30% among final consumers, with an average ticket from $ 3,800.
MercadoPago also allows you to pay service tickets with credit cards to "kick" some expenses until the following month. To do this, the "unicorn" uses the payment processor to Pago Fácil.
The other great player is TodoPago, the Prisma wallet, a company that owns the Lapos collection system and the Banelco ATM network. The app allows you to pay up to 12 installments (in some cases without interest) in fuel chains, pharmacies, clothing, sports and car services. Also in ecommerce sites, tourism agencies and other categories.
Not only food
One of the most interesting options to save in categories such as electronics, footwear and clothing is MuyShopper, which started four years ago and compares the amounts of different online stores. When looking for a product, list all the stores that sell it and highlight the one that offers the cheapest.
"The idea came up when I went to live alone and I had to buy an air conditioner, I made an excel sheet and began to list the values ââthat each trade offered me to find the best one," Ari Lapidus, its founder, told iProUP.
The move came out round, as he recalls: "I saved a very good money and so this idea was developed to help people find better prices."
MuyShopper relieves the data of a hundred businesses, which enter between two and three times a day to verify the amounts of the products. It aims for an alliance with Skycanner to finally enter the world of tourism.
For their part, the owners of the TurismoCity tourist metasearch engine created Comparacity, which focuses on household items. To use it, you must enter an article and you will see the best options of each establishment, without having to enter the different websites.
You can also check if the product went down or increased at the time of purchase to assess whether an offer is really convenient.
"Users not only want to save, they look for prices because they do not want to overpay," Julián Gurfinkel, one of its founders, had pointed out to iProUP.
Also insurance
In this area there are also options, such as 123Seguro, a broker that operates through digital channels since 2010 and compares the amounts of companies in the sector.
"That year we saw that the conditions on the client side were met, thousands of insurance-related searches that were unattended and some success stories in Europe encouraged us to take the first step of proposing a digital alternative in our country," said Martín. Ferrari, CEO of the firm, to iProUP.
Thanks to technology, they managed to reduce time and costs in the contracting of car policies. They already have more than 130,000 visits per month in Argentina. It also operates in Colombia and plans its landing in other countries in the region. In addition, 123Seguro provides tools to manage the plan according to the personal characteristics of the client.
To do this, it recognizes its real needs to present fair and comprehensive coverage that adapts to the user's requirements, considering the proposals of more than 25 companies.
In this way, the Argentine middle class, in its fight against prices, finds some allies that help "take care of the mango". As it was 60 years ago, but now with technology as a shield against an inflation that does not give up.
