Filenews 4 February 2025 - by Angelos Angelodimou
February is the month of developments regarding the implementation of the application of e-kalathi. As it is known, this application was supposed to be operational at the end of December, but it was deemed necessary to grant an extension, so that all involved are fully ready for this project.
As we are informed, next Friday, February 7, there will be an online presentation of e-kalathi. The contractor, the supermarkets and the competent department of the Ministry of Commerce will discuss the latest developments and see at what stage the implementation of this project is. After the presentation is completed, the launch of e-kalathi in a virtual environment will follow on February 10. In other words, it will operate internally, with supermarkets and virtual consumers, whose role will be played by officers of the Consumer Protection Service.
This will be done over a period of 10 days and will be completed on February 20. During this time, any problems and deficiencies will be identified, so that they can be corrected in time, with the ultimate goal of the e-kalathi to be given to the public in the first days of March with the initial thoughts to be made for the 3rd or 4th of the month.
Then, the Ministry of Commerce will be ready to issue the relevant decree, while the application for e-kalathi will probably be ready. The information indicates that most likely, the application will work immediately for android devices, while for ios there may be some delay, due to the procedures required to be done with this platform. The indications are that this time everything will be ready on schedule, so that this tool can be given to consumers to help them with their purchases. Already, information indicates that informal competition has begun between supermarkets in order to reduce prices for products that will be in the first phase in e-kalathi.
It is reminded that 480 products will initially be included in e-kalathi, and then these will gradually increase. Around 20 to 22 supermarkets will have the obligation to feed back into the system daily with the prices of their products. This obligation will apply to supermarkets with an annual turnover of more than €5 million. At the same time, all products included in the e-cart for which prices will be compared must have the same barcode.
Increase in retail trade
Meanwhile, yesterday, the Statistical Service announced the results of the Retail Trade Value and Volume Index for 2024. Specifically, the Turnover Value Index of Retail Trade increased in December 2024 by 5,8% compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. During the same month, the Turnover Volume Index of Retail Trade increased by 3,6% compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.
For the period January-December 2024, the Value Index is estimated to have increased by 5.4% and the Volume Index by 4.3% compared to the same period of 2023. Speaking to "F", PASYLE Secretary General Marios Antoniou noted that the increase in turnover value was expected due to the increase in prices. However, the important element is the increase in volume in the turnover index. This, he noted, shows that the market is growing and foreigners, who are now in Cyprus and strengthening the pie in retail, seem to contribute significantly to this.
