Brasil’s e-commerce surges, but coronavirus costs curb gains

Carrefour Brasil has seen its e-commerce sales more than triple over the past month as Brazilians have stocked up on food and other supplies during coronavirus lockdowns, but the cost of new hiring and other measures to cope with the pandemic may offset those gains, its chief executive told Reuters.

One of a handful of large supermarket chains scrambling to adjust to drastic shifts in the market over the past 15 days, the local subsidiary of France’s Carrefour SA has started taking the temperature of employees and customers entering its stores, hired thousands of workers and battled suppliers over price hikes on basic products.

So far, about 3,000 employees have been put on paid leave including members of “at-risk” groups such as senior citizens and pregnant women and those showing symptoms of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused the new coronavirus.

Reuters