Trade - Christmas business is slowly picking up speed
According to the retail association HDE, Christmas business is gradually picking up speed. After only 15 percent of retail companies were satisfied with the Christmas business to date in November and December, a third of retailers rated the sales trend as positive in the week before the first Advent. This is the result of a trend survey of around 350 companies, according to the German Retail Association (HDE) in Berlin.
"Even if there has been a lack of momentum so far, it is clear that things started to improve in the week before the first Advent," said HDE Managing Director Stefan Genth. However, there is still plenty of room for improvement in the coming weeks. Currently, 54 percent of companies are dissatisfied with their sales.
This is particularly true for clothing and shoe retailers. This is also due to low customer footfall, particularly in city centers. According to the HDE, almost two thirds of the retailers surveyed in city centers reported visitor numbers below the previous year's level. Retailers in urban suburbs, district centers and business parks were significantly more satisfied.
The winners in recent days have been retailers in the food, electronics, toys and sporting goods sectors. It is also apparent that satisfaction is higher among larger companies than smaller ones. "Christmas business hasn't really taken off yet. However, the coming weeks during the Advent period are traditionally the strongest sales period of the year for many retailers," said Genth. The HDE is forecasting sales of just over 120 billion euros for the Christmas season. This corresponds to an increase of 1.5 percent compared to the previous year.
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Source: www.stern.de
