The winter sales of 2017 ends on Tuesday evening, a disappointing record. Sales in shops are down. For some professionals, there is an overdose of promotions and private sales throughout the year.
“Disappointing”, “bad thought”, drop in attendance and sales: the winter sales, which end on Tuesday night, did not perform as expected, partly because of the proliferation of private sales performed throughout the year.
“Compared to the same period of the sales last year, we estimate a turnover down 2% after 6 weeks of reductions, disappointing, which was expected, however,” says Yves Marin, consumption expert at Kurt Salmon.
€ 197.43 average expenditure
The balance of the winter sales is not good. A poll by Toluna / LSA, made by the Internet in France on the 12th and 13th February with a sample of 1501 people aged 18 and more, attendance is down 4.4 points from last year. Even down on the spending side. On average, the French spent € 197.43 for those sales items, a decline in sales of 6.8%.
“Attendance has dropped significantly compared to previous years” , says Mathieu, Vendor store ready-to-wear White Legends mall Euralille, where the crowd of consumers is yet permanent. “We started well and we had a lot fewer people over the past weeks,” he says, blaming the decline in purchasing power.
Clothing best sellers
The main items purchased balances are clothing products (71.9% of consumers took clothes, shoes or accessories), sports (33.1%), health and beauty (18.6%), home / Deco (18.3%), culture (16.2%) and high-tech (14%). Overall, 75.2% of French succumbed to promotions and discounts, representing 38.3 million customers, according to the survey.
“This year, it’s hard. Large items are still there. It’s complicated deals with major brands all year. This is hardly finished and we go again “, Cyril ton, clothing retailer for men and women in an independent shop in Bordeaux.
Even experienced more than 500 kilometers away to Isabelle, manager in a well recognised shoe shop in Lyon: “compared to last year, it was not satisfactory. We try to catch up on February with additional discounts but it is a vicious circle with promotions throughout the year, people spread out over their purchases. And we also feel a lack of resources “
“Liquidation, promotions, clearance … the phenomenon of price discount is not new but it is really accentuated this year. Suddenly, the period we are trying to measure is not good, “ laments Bernard Morvan, President of the National Clothing Federation (NHF).
Philippe Guilbert, CEO of Toluna, said that this year, “43.8% of French, including 4.2% who have not returned to the winter sales, participated in these various specials before the sales began. In 2016, only 32.8% of French people had participated “, he compares, assuring that “customers have spent their money made before the 11th January, the day – late this year – for the start of the sales” .
Overdose of private sales?
These mass promotions are in addition to an economic environment favorable to the already low consumer spending and unfavorable to improve in a few weeks of a presidential election.
For its part, the ICC Paris-Ile-de-France even mentions a “overdose” private sales: “nearly 60% of traders have proposed this time” when “62% of traders believe that the balances represent plus a major event “ .
“Balances, it no longer means much. We are obliged to buy the best basis for the shoes quickly leave “ , insists Charlotte Milamand, manager of Soa Cauca, shoe store in the city center of Bordeaux.
While many traders are questioning the existence of sales, Mr. Morvan certifies him that “if we establish the ranking of 52 weeks, the first week of winter or summer sales remains the first week for a trade in terms of turnover “ .
