According to a report by ECO, supermarkets admit that the sale of self-tests has fallen in recent weeks, with drops reaching 80%, compared to the “peak” of the beginning of the year. Therefore, there are already companies looking at new strategies to sell the stock, namely through promotions or price reductions.

Last week, the Government put an “end point” to the obligation to present a negative test for bars, clubs, large events and events without marked places and for sports venues, these being now only required for visits to homes and health establishments.

“We are currently selling 80% less than at the beginning of the year, when we reached the peak of sales”, an official source from the Dia group told ECO, adding that Minipreço stores have already sold 957,925 self-tests, of which “24,812 were sold last week.”

This trend is also felt by Wells. The brand specialised in Health of the Sonae group admits that “in recent weeks the demand has decreased”, although self-tests are still “a highly sought after item”. Without advancing total sales data, the brand indicates that “over the last few weeks” it has sold “20,000 test units per day”. The Continente stores – which include the Continente, Modelo and Bom Dia supermarkets and which also belong to the Sonae group – also show “a slight slowdown in the sales of self-tests”, although they did not advance figures.

Like the other retailers, the Jerónimo Martins group also confirms that the Pingo Doce stores have “felt a lower demand for self-tests”, refusing, however, to advance values.

Auchan, on the other hand, guarantees that demand “has remained stable”, after a sharp increase in the Christmas season and New Year's Eve. “In the last week we sold about 20,000 tests”, Auchan Retail Portugal told ECO.