Karpovich - how MART helps to promote domestic goods

Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Artur Karpovich told how MART helps domestic goods to take a place on the shelves. Belta reports.

As Artur Karpovich noted, the main task of the Ministry and the trade industry is to provide consumers with a wide range of goods at affordable prices. “If a wide assortment is presented in shopping facilities and the purchase is available at an affordable price, consumers will remain in a good mood, respectively, the turnover grows. At the same time, by selling mainly domestic goods, we are trying to ensure the loading of industrial enterprises that produce them, he said.

The minister added that over the past decades, the share of domestically produced goods has significantly decreased, so MART outlined this problem before the country's leadership. “The situation has been reversed. There is no rapid decline, which was observed a year and a half ago, today. Moreover, there is a slight tendency to increase the sale of domestically produced goods. We outlined this task to the regional and Minsk City Executive Committees and set the relevant guidelines for the year. At the same time, they decided to act not only by administrative methods, but to involve the business itself in the process, he stressed.

The Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade signed a voluntary agreement on cooperation in the field of improving the efficiency of sales of domestically produced goods with more than 1 thousand organizations of Belarus. Among them are large retail chains, state bodies and organizations, as well as concerns. Almost every organization has identified an employee who is responsible for the sale of goods of domestic production. The contact details of these specialists are posted on the websites so that manufacturers can directly contact the responsible persons of trading companies.

The Ministry also holds seminars with the participation of trade representatives and manufacturers, where the parties discuss and resolve problematic issues. “Over time, in seminars, people began to speak more openly and realized that they could raise even sharp questions without negative consequences. People see the ministry as a regulator that not only develops regulatory documents, but also helps solve specific problems, he said.

Artur Karpovich mentioned the standard for the availability of Belarusian products in the trade range. The changes made to the mandatory assortment lists concern the tightening of requirements for the sale of domestically produced goods. MART considers this as a temporary measure necessary to change the negative trend and increase the presence of domestic goods in retail facilities. “It is important that the goods were not just listed in the assortment, but actually were in the store and were available to the consumer,” he said.

Regarding the promotion of domestically produced goods, the minister explained that manufacturers have their own marketing policy in this regard, including discounts, bonuses, various promotions. However, according to Artur Karpovich, MART relies not only on traditional promotion tools, but also on the formation of consumer habits. “We work primarily with the minds of children. A series of social advertising aimed at promoting Belarusian goods has been developed. If today to put in the mind of the child the idea that the Belarusian is quality and good, tomorrow we will see the result.

The Ministry launched the action “Skin spot – native, pile”. The initiative began to support trade organizations and catering facilities. “It is good to see that business is not limited to posters. Shopping facilities create full-fledged press walls and advertising structures, and billboards appear slogan. This is the right direction, the minister added.