Discount Retail Chain Tuti is the fastest growing retailer in the preference of Ecuadorians among the different shopping channels. In two years it already has 600 stores nationwide.
The discounter Tuti, where a limited assortment of products is offered at very low prices, is the fastest growing and has already equaled hypermarkets (Megamaxi, Hipermarket and Coral) in the preferences of Ecuadorians.
A study by the research firm Kantar shows how competition between the different mass consumption channels in Ecuador closed in 2024. The result: supermarkets, Tuti and butcher shops were the ones that Ecuadorians preferred the most when buying their products.
Tuti, which is part of the Corporación El Rosado economic group, and which opened its first store in Guayaquil in April 2019, already has 643 stores, according to the Internal Revenue Service (SRI). Data from the Superintendence of Companies show that in 2023 it totaled USD 446.6 million as total revenues.
Miguel le la Torre, country Manager of Kantar Ecuador's Worldpanel division, explains what happened, "Hypermarkets lost share in 2024. That is a waste of money, because they are premises of large lengths, expensive to maintain."
Miguel de la Torre adds that "hypermarkets are focusing too much on price and not on experience. It is a channel that can offer a lot of added value, different formats, new categories"
The specialist adds that the discounter (Tuti is the only one currently existing in the country) is the fastest growing channel; it is not the one that contributes the most, but it is the fastest growing. It went from having 2% of the pie in the first quarter of 2022 to 8% in the last quarter of 2024.
For their part, supermarkets (Supermaxi, Mi Comisariato, Akí, Santa María, Tía and Mini Mico) achieved their maximum in the last two years in the fourth quarter of last year, capturing 23 out of every USD 100 in Ecuadorians' purchases.
Finally, purchases in butcher shops have also recovered space. "The discounter, by not having all the product categories, prevents the consumer from making a complete purchase. When he can't find fresh protein, but frozen, he goes to the butchers."
How did the Ecuadorian customer buy in 2024?
When comparing the last quarter of 2024 with 2023, the mass consumption basket, which is equivalent to USD 260, registered a growth of 7%, in price and 1% in quantity. This was due to speculative effects inherited from the announcements of the El Niño phenomenon.
As of the third quarter of 2024, the blackouts impacted the mass consumption basket. With the increase in rationing, the main drop was that of fresh proteins (-5%). "What the Ecuadorian shopper did was buy less of the category and make more accelerated trips, since he could not keep fresh food for long," explains De la Torre.
On the other hand, Food, Beverages and Personal Care grew in value during 2024 in comparison with 2023. The 8% increase in spending on food was driven by the increase in the price of rice. In the case of Beverages, its improvement was due to the fact that there was a transfer of spending from outside to inside the home, due to insecurity. That is, people no longer left their homes.
The increase in the purchase of beauty products driven by Black Friday stands out, as it was one of the most promoted baskets. The main purchase channel that benefited was 'catalog sales', which accounted for 50% of sales in this basket. "This option to buy also became an option for a source of employment, since the country is facing a labor crisis."
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