Fipe Buscape Index Indicates Deflation of 9.6% in e-commerce for November Using January as a Base

SAO PAULO, December 7, 2011 -

Price variations for the period show 21.8% drop in Photography category and 6.6% rise in Toys and Games category

E-commerce prices for consumers registered deflation of 9.6% from January to November of this year. This is what is indicated by the Fipe Buscape Index (Indice Fipe Buscape), which is being launched today to provide, starting now, from month to month an x-ray of prices for more than 1.3 million products in Brazilian e-commerce.

Also according to the Index, the category exhibiting the greatest price drop, of 21.8%, was Photography, and the one showing the greatest rise, of 6.6%, was Toys and Games.  In real terms, using the Fipe Buscape deflator, the Index also indicates that e-commerce should increase by 39.1% in 2011 compared to the year before. In this way it will be possible, starting now, to evaluate the real growth of Brazilian e-commerce.

    Image 1                 Accumulated % Variation by Category (Nov11/Jan11)
    Photo                        -21.8
    Telephony                    -19.6
    Electronics                  -13.4
    Fashion and Accessories      -9.8
    General                      -9.6
    Computers                    -6.1
    Sport and Leisure            -3
    Appliances                   -2.7
    Cosmetics and Perfumery      -0.8
    Home and Decoration           3.9
    Toys and Games                6.6

Developed using the methodology of the Foundation Institute for Economic Research (Fipe - Fundacao Instituto de Pesquisas Economicas) based on a detailed analysis of data gathered from Buscape (www.buscape.com.br), the largest price comparison site in Latin America, which lists 50 thousand stores, representing practically all e-commerce, and e-bit (www.ebit.com.br), a company specializing in e-commerce information responsible for collecting the evaluations of consumers at more than 5 thousand stores throughout Brazil, the Fipe Buscape Index was created to attend to the interests of various constituencies (retailers, consumers, the press, importers and providers of finance, among others), who previously did not have access to detailed data on prices charged by online stores.  

“For some time now we have had the intention of creating an internet consumer price index, and so we sought out the support of a respected institution such as Fipe. Since we have an extremely representative database, we have had the complete support of the Foundation. E-commerce purchasing has been growing strongly in recent years, and our creating an index like this one was overdue,” notes Romero Rodrigues, President of the Buscape Company (www.buscapecompany.com).

“The composition of e-commerce purchasing is quite different from the weight structures of Consumer Price Indexes,” observes Dr. Sergio Crispim, of Fipe. “According to e-bit, between 2001 and 2011, e-commerce grew at an average rate of 43.5% per year, and the Index will help us actually to keep track of price variations for products in 10 categories and 156 sub-categories that represent nearly 80% of purchases done online. They are very significant products that justify specific and in-depth price monitoring,” he explains, noting the increase in the number of residences with a computer, the dissemination of broad band access, the maturing and consolidation of the retail structure, as well as the availability of more secure payment methods, and the improvement of logistical processes as some of the factors that have driven the growth of e-commerce in Brazil.

According to Professor Crispim, the 10 categories tracked by the Fipe Buscape Index should represent close to R$ 270 billion in consumption by Brazilian families in 2011, and the 156 products monitored directly, around R$ 150 billion. “The Index will be an important indicator of the movement of prices in Brazilian e-commerce,” he adds.

Watch the video with Professor Sergio Crispim  here

For a more precise result, the professor explains that prices were only considered for products classified as “Unique Products,” or products from different stores that can be considered equal based on specification of the brand and model, in addition to only using prices paid up front or without installment plan increments.

    Image 2         Accumulated % Variation - Main Appliances (Nov11/Jan11)
    Air Conditioner      -9.6
    Coffeemaker          -5.6
    Electric Oven        -4.6
    Refrigerator         -3.7
    APPLIANCES           -2.8
    Stove                -2.1
    Washing Machine       0.08
    Freezer               0.7
    Microwave             2.2
    Vacuum Cleaner        6.9

Among Home Appliances, which had an average deflation of 2.8% for the period from January to November of 2011, the products that experienced the greatest price decline were Air Conditioners, with a 9.6% reduction, while those exhibiting the greatest increase were vacuum cleaners, with a rise of 6.9%.

                        Accumulated % Variation - Main Electronics
    Image 3             (Nov11/Jan11)
    Digital Converter        -23.5
    Blu-Ray Player           -16.1
    TV                       -14.7
    ELECTRONICS              -13.4
    MP3 and MP4 Player       -11.1
    Home Theater              -5.6
    Auto Radio / CD Player     0.6
    DVD Player                 3.3
    Micro System               4.1
    Auto DVD Player            6.9

In the case of Electronics, which saw an average price drop of 13.4% for the period, the product registering greatest deflation was the Digital Converter, with a 23.5% reduction, and the one showing the greatest inflation was the Auto DVD Player, with a rise of 6.9%.

                        Accumulated % Variation - Main Computers
    Image 4             (Nov11/Jan11)
    Graphics Boards          -31.3
    Pen Drive                -30.6
    HD                       -11.9
    Multimedia Projector      -7.7
    Notebook                  -7.4
    COMPUTER                  -5.4
    Router                    -5.3
    Monitor                   -2.3
    Printer                   -1.9
    PC/Desktop                 1

For Computers, the Fipe Buscape Index shows that average prices fell 5.4%, with the Video Card leading the downward trend with a 31.3% drop, while the PC / Desktop showed the most growth, but with a rise of only 1%.

About the  Buscape Company 

The only complete platform for digital commerce, the Buscape Company (www.buscapecompany.com) is intended for the consumer goods industry, retailers, distributors, the financial market and advertising agencies that need to connect their products and services to consumers and give them decision power. Globally active, with the largest team for internet technology development in Latin America, it began to operate in 1999 and today, with all its brands, it is the absolute leader.  It is present in 28 countries and receives 60 million visits every month.

About  Fipe 

A non-profit, private institution, founded in 1973 to support the Department of Economics at FEA-USP, Fipe (www.fipe.com) conducts economic research seeking to contribute to debate on economic problems, the formulation of economic and public policy, the strengthening of the productive system and increase of the country’s competitiveness.

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