Too few customers and too little sales: This year, too, many retailers are disappointed with the Christmas business and blame the measures to combat the pandemic.
“For the second time in a row, the Christmas season was a disaster for retailers,” said the Managing Director of the German Retail Association, Stefan Genth, on Monday, summarizing the results of a trend survey among 750 retail companies. “In many trading companies there is disillusionment and existential fear.”
Sales below pre-crisis levels
In November the Christmas business got off to a good start, but the nationwide introduction of the 2G rule in large parts of the retail sector then caused sales and frequencies in brick-and-mortar retail to collapse, reported the HDE managing director. More than three-quarters of non-grocery retailers are unhappy with the way the holiday season is going, according to Genth.
According to the HDE trend survey, sales in stationary non-food retail below 2G in the week before Christmas were on average 35 percent below the pre-crisis level. The situation is still dramatic, especially in the city centers. According to HDE, sales there plummeted by 36 percent compared to the pre-crisis level, while frequencies fell by 42 percent. The clothing trade was particularly hard hit again. The trade could now “only hope for the time between the years,” said Genth.
Online trading continues to boom
In view of the losses, the HDE reiterated its demand for appropriate and uncomplicated economic aid to absorb damage to the industry caused by pandemics.
Online retailing, on the other hand, felt a tailwind. In view of disrupted supply chains and pandemic-related restrictions in brick-and-mortar retail, the e-commerce association BEVH reported that this year, too, people would have relied on e-commerce as a reliable “gift provider” for family and friends.
The Christmas sales in e-commerce with goods in the period from the beginning of October to the end of November were 15.8 percent above the previous year’s level. At the same time, according to a survey by the association, the tendency of consumers to return goods ordered online has decreased. (dpa)