According to a survey by the online B2B platform Ankorstore, the economic situation of European retailers remains tense. The data collected is based on responses from more than 570 independent retailers in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK in August/September 2022.
The aim was to understand retailers’ issues with Black Friday and the holiday season in the current economic climate and identify their needs, as year-end sales remain the most important business event of the year for the majority (87 percent), followed by summer ( 40 percent) and Mother’s Day (32 percent).
Dealership challenges
According to the survey, a large proportion (80 percent) of independent retailers are suffering particularly from the reduced purchasing power of consumers, a good half (54 percent) from strong competition from large department store chains and online retailers, and 43 percent from the increase in energy prices. Almost three quarters (73 percent) worry that their businesses are at risk due to the current economic situation.
As for Black Friday, the majority (60 percent) will not participate. However, around a third (34 percent) of them would participate if given the opportunity to preserve their profit margin.
Ankorstore offers Independent Black Friday one month early
In response to this result, Ankorstore launched the first “Independent Black Friday” across Europe, offering independent retailers 10 percent off over 30,000 brands from October 17-26 – a month before commercial Black Friday. In addition, brands that offer their products at Ankorstore can offer an additional discount and independent retailers can benefit from savings of up to 50 percent.
“We remain committed to supporting all of the independent retailers in our community to help them thrive in this final and crucial quarter of the year,” said Ankorstore co-founder and co-CEO Nicolas D’Audiffret in a statement.
“The aim is to return power to independents by introducing the first ‘Independent Black Friday’ this year. We support the independent retailers in their decision whether or not to take advantage of Black Friday, whether to offer their customers discounts until the end of the year, to maintain their profit margins by maintaining their prices or to reinvest the money saved on ‘Independent Black Friday’ want. For this reason we have the motto ‘Your business. Your choice.’ Business owners know best what is right for their business and we respect their decision,” adds D’Audiffret.
“I really appreciate this approach, which helps my business increase my profit margin with great discounts on all Ankorstore products,” comments Daniela Tobian, Managing Director of Kids Concept Store Halber Meter in Berlin.
How are retailers tackling the challenges?
In order to master the challenges mentioned above, almost two thirds (63 percent) of the retailers surveyed plan to reduce their energy consumption, for example by switching off the heating and lighting in the shops at night. More than half (54 percent) will increase their communication via social media and flyers, and 47 percent chose to limit their inventory and only restock at the last minute.
They are benefiting from the tendency of consumers to head into stores ahead of the holiday season to touch and test the products they want to buy. The survey shows that local (49 percent) and eco-friendly products (47 percent) are the most popular items.
“These results confirm that customers are looking for unique products that cannot be found in the big stores that are sustainable or support local brands,” summarizes Ankorstore.