Argentina SME retail sales up 0.3% in September, online up 19.4%
By Alexander SchekGo-to-market and sales leadership in Latin America
1 min readSales at Argentina's small and medium retailers rose 0.3% in September from a year earlier, according to CAME, but are still down 2.1% for the year. Online sales at retailers with physical stores grew 19.4%, an increasingly important part of the business.
Argentina's small and medium retailers saw a slight recovery in September, with sales up 0.3% compared to last year, according to Confederación Argentina de la Mediana Empresa (CAME). But sales were still down 2.1% for the year.
The differences between categories are interesting. Clothing grew 5%, footwear 3.5% and hardware 3.3%, while food and beverages fell 3.1% and furniture and home goods dropped 3.4%. One figure worth looking at is online sales.
SME retail sales by category, September 2026
Retailers with physical stores reported 19.4% growth in their online sales compared to September last year. Having worked for years with retailers and distributors across Latin America, I've seen how much the sales channel can affect a business.
This data suggests that online is becoming an increasingly important part of the business for the Argentine stores surveyed, even while their overall sales remain weak.
The survey only measures online sales from participating retailers with physical stores, not Argentina's entire e-commerce market.
Sources: CAME, SME retail sales index, September 2026; Infobae, SME retail sales rose 0.3% in September
Publication: Originally published on my professional LinkedIn on October 21, 2026.