The high inflation is causing more and more problems for the retail trade in Germany. In a new forecast published on Tuesday, the German Retail Association (HDE) assumes that the industry’s sales this year will be four percent below the previous year’s level in real terms – i.e. price-adjusted. So far, trade had assumed a real minus of three percent. According to the latest forecast, sales should increase nominally by three percent.
HDE General Manager Stefan Genth referred to an HDE survey according to which a quarter of consumers in Germany are afraid of not getting by with the money. “Often they buy less, in many cases they switch to cheaper products,” says Genth. A total of 45 percent of the population said they would limit themselves in some way.
The overall difficult situation is also reflected in the results of a current HDE survey of around 900 trading companies, reported HDE President Alexander von Preen. Accordingly, 35 percent of retailers expect sales to decline in the second half of the year. For the year as a whole, just over every third retailer assumes that sales will increase compared to the previous year. (dpa)