tagged: consumer behavior, data, Greece, Greek, january 15 2011, merchants, retail sales, sales drops, winter sales

Greece: Winter Sales start Jan 15, 2011- Merchants in despair

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Economy

This year’s Winter Sales official start on January 15, 2011, two weeks earlier than February 1, as normally scheduled.  However retailers have already started offering goods at discount prices after having seen the Christmas-New Year market recording incredible low sales between -30% and even -40%.

The Winter Sales will conclude on February 28.

Consumers willing to make use of the Winter Sales should locate in advance the goods they want to buy and check the final prices incl. prices reductions when the Sales official commerce.

Reductions rates are expected to reach 60-70%.

Changes in consumers’ behavior

In Greece’s  IMF austerity year 2010 the many tax increases, the Value-Added Tax hikes – three within 9 months – , the cuts in pensions and wages and the rapid increase of unemployment have  dramatically changed consumers’ spending behavior, especially in the last three months of 2010.

During the Holiday Season many consumers curbed drastically spending for presents and refrained from buying clothes or shoes.

A friend was telling me that this year she made only ‘symbolic’  presents costing in the average € 5, maximum 15 euros. Half price of what she used to spend in former years. She even forced herself into a baking mood, and instead of buying presents, she gave away home baked cakes.

Wine is the new trend

A cousin of mine, owner of  a liquor store in a middle class suburb of Athens,  told me yesterday that  ‘hard drinks’  like vodka and whisky, a favorite present and drink among Greeks during the Holiday Season, remained unsold this year.

He said that consumers chose to buy two bottles of good Greek wine in the price of one bottle of Vodka – 17 euros in the average.

“There is a new trend in Greeks’ drinking habits and that is drinking wine instead of hard drinks. Wine has become the new drink of the Greek society” he stressed. 

Three V.A.T. increases within nine months sky rocketed the prices of alcoholic drinks.

Merchants  in despair

Merchants saw their goods remained on the shelves and experienced the stinginess of banks who have turned off the swivels for loans.

National Confederation of Commerce estimated that department store sales fell unexpectedly 9.8%  and even consumption of food products recorded a decrease of  11%. Clothing/shoes sales went down 40%, alcoholic  drinks 25%, electronic products 20%.

According to estimations at least 7,000 retail shops are going to close down in the first three months of 2011. Through our Greece some 11,000 enterprises have recorded ‘red numbers’. That is, more than 15,000 jobs  will be lost.