12/10/2024 – 5:00
This Saturday, the 12th, both the day of Brazil’s patron saint, Our Lady of Aparecida, and Children’s Day are celebrated. In addition to being a day to raise awareness about children’s rights, the date, like its counterparts, also generates movement in commerce, as the tradition is to give gifts to little ones on this day.
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Claudio Felisoni de Angelo, president of Ibevar (Brazilian Institute of Retail and Consumer Market Executives) and professor at FIA Business School, explains that the League of Nations, a precursor entity to the UN, approved the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1924, which is considered a milestone in the defense of children’s rights.
The following year, during a world conference on child welfare, June 1st was chosen as International Children’s Day, a date still celebrated in many countries, he says.
Almost 30 years later, the UN recommended that all countries establish Universal Children’s Day, suggesting that each nation choose the most appropriate date.
But, in Brazil, the date began to be celebrated on October 12th since 1924, as on October 12th, 1923, the South American Children’s Congress was held in Rio de Janeiro, an event that brought together childhood experts at the time. to deal with education and child development. On November 5 of that year, President Artur Bernardes officially established the date through decree nº 4867.
According to SindilojasRio, the date also refers to October 12, 1492, when Christopher Columbus arrived in America, called the “Child Continent” for centuries.
The commercial spirit of the date began in the 1960s. It was the year in which the Estrela toy factory, in partnership with Johnson & Johnson, launched a promotional campaign to boost sales in October, called “Robust Baby Week”. Soon the initiative was copied by other companies and in the following decades the date was consolidated as an important event in the retail calendar.
Sales
The Federation of Chambers of Store Managers of the State of São Paulo (FCDL-SP) projects that trade should generate around R$ 124 million on that date, marking a growth of 5% compared to the previous year.
The CNC (National Confederation of Commerce in Goods, Services and Tourism), on the other hand, has a more measured expectation, of financial turnover of R$9.35 billion, an increase of 2.6% compared to 2023.
According to the CNC, the average price of the basket of products related to the date should vary by 2.8% in 2024, a slowdown compared to the 6.7% increase recorded in 2023.
The rise in prices will be driven by items such as books (9.7% increase), chocolates (7.2% increase) and children’s shoes (6.5% increase). On the other hand, items such as bicycles (down 4.3%), cinema and theater tickets (down 3.9%) and toys (down 2.8%) are expected to be cheaper compared to last year.
The Confederation’s projection is that the clothing and footwear segment will be the main highlight of sales in 2024, accounting for 27% of the projected volume, which corresponds to R$2.5 billion. Next, the electronics and toys sector represents 25% of sales, with an estimated turnover of R$2.3 billion. Perfumes and pharmacies, in turn, are expected to generate revenues of R$ 2.1 billion, with the highest percentage growth compared to last year, predicted at 6%.
Children’s Day is considered the third most important event on the national retail sales calendar, behind only Christmas and Mother’s Day.
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