Overview
- CAME’s July Retail Sales Index showed pyme retail billing fell 3.8% year‑on‑year and 2.1% month‑on‑month, producing a 2.7% cumulative drop for January–July, according to the federation’s report released Monday.
- Mercado Libre founder Marcos Galperín said the company’s Argentina business grew about 38% in constant currency and questioned whether CAME’s metric captures platform transaction volume.
- CAME answered that its index measures inflation‑adjusted real billing for a long‑standing sample of small and medium local retailers and does not aim to measure total national consumption.
- Analysts and sector data say e‑commerce is expanding but represents a minority share of pyme sales (CAME estimates about 25%) and cannot yet offset declines in most in‑person categories; CAME found six of seven sectors fell in July while hardware/construction rose 1%.
- The gap between platform growth and shop sales matters for small business livelihoods and policy signals, and upcoming INDEC inflation data will be watched for its likely effect on households’ buying power and short‑term retail demand.