Trade - Retailers in NRW disappointed with Christmas business
Retailers in North Rhine-Westphalia are disappointed with sales so far in the weeks leading up to the festive season. "Christmas business has so far fallen short of expectations," said Peter Achten, Managing Director of the North Rhine-Westphalia Retail Association, on Friday.
Business was good at the end of November, but slumped noticeably in the week between the first and second Advent. According to the association, sales were still good in traditional gift sectors such as watches, jewelry, perfume, cosmetics and bookstores, while customers also increasingly turned to electronic products at the beginning of December.
Retailers are hoping that business will pick up in the last few days before Christmas Eve. Experience has shown that good weather and festive lighting help to attract many customers to the city centers. There is one disadvantage for retailers this year: because December 24 falls on a Sunday, late shoppers can no longer buy presents on that day.
Christmas sales are traditionally the strongest time of the year for retailers. According to the German Retail Association (HDE), brick-and-mortar retailers generate almost 20 percent of their sales in November and December. Recently, however, business has fallen short of expectations nationwide. According to an HDE survey of 350 companies, only a quarter of retailers were satisfied in the week before the second Advent and almost 60 percent were dissatisfied.
Due to high inflation, many people in Germany are not in a buying mood this year. According to a representative survey by the Institute for Retail Research (IFH), one in three people want to save on presents - as was the case last year. According to the survey, only 49% of Christmas shoppers will go to bricks-and-mortar stores this year, four percentage points less than in 2022.
According to retail expert Kai Hudetz from IFH, Christmas sales were brought forward particularly strongly this year due to promotional days such as Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday. The high discounts had a negative impact on margins and made it more difficult to trigger buying impulses in the days leading up to the festive season.
A recent study by Worms University of Applied Sciences and the management and technology consultancy BearingPoint shows: More than half of Germany's most popular shopping streets recorded a significant year-on-year decline in footfall at the start of the Advent season.
The HDE is forecasting total sales of just over 120 billion euros for this year's Christmas business in November and December. In nominal terms, this is a slight increase in sales compared to the previous year, but adjusted for price increases, it represents a decrease of 5.5 percent.
IFH survey HDE Christmas forecast BearingPoint survey
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- Despite the disappointing sales in North Rhine-Westphalia, the cosmetics and jewelry sectors continue to perform well for retailers.
- The turnover in traditional gift sectors, such as watches and perfume, has remained strong in Germany during the festive season.
- On saint's eve, retailers in Düsseldorf are hoping for a surge in sales to make up for the slump earlier in December.
- The Trade Association in NRW expresses concern over the lackluster Christmas business, despite a strong showing for electronics.
- The decline in footfall on popular shopping streets across Germany at the turn of the year has been noted by a study conducted by Worms University of Applied Sciences and BearingPoint.
- In addition to the traditional retail sectors, consumers are also increasingly turning to online platforms for their Christmas purchases this year.
- Retailers in North Rhine-Westphalia, like those nationwide, are grappling with high inflation and a feeling of economic uncertainty, which has dampened consumer spending.
- The HDE predicts that total sales for the Christmas business in November and December will only see a slight increase in nominal terms, but a significant decline when adjusted for price increases.
Source: www.stern.de
