Slump in sales

Retailers are now hoping for a “Christmas miracle”

The Christmas markets are opening and retailers are gearing up for the Christmas season. Now all that remains is for consumers to do their bit to make it a "Christmas miracle" from the retailers' point of view.

(Bild: APA/ROBERT JAEGER)

Despite the fall in inflation, domestic retailers are still being hit hard by the "inflation crisis", according to Rainer Will, head of the German Retail Association. Consumers are still reluctant to store. Nevertheless, retailers are hoping for a "Christmas miracle".

The upcoming Black Week, with estimated sales of around 400 million euros, could be the starting signal. According to a survey by the Reppublika Research & Analytics institute, 80 percent of Austrians are already planning to buy their Christmas presents during Black Week, i.e. the series of offers surrounding Black Friday and Cyber Monday. "More and more people are taking advantage of the campaign days, but they are spending less and less," says Will.

Rainer Will: "More and more people are taking advantage of the campaign days, but they are spending less and less."

(Bild: krone.tv)

Black Week: Highest spending in Vienna
Black Friday in particular is becoming increasingly popular with bricks-and-mortar retailers, with more than half of the 1,000 or so respondents planning to shop both online and in stores during the campaign days this year. The planned per capita spending during Black Week is particularly high in Vienna (281 euros). Tyrol and Vorarlberg (EUR 266 each) as well as Lower Austria and Burgenland (EUR 263 each) are roughly in line with the Austrian average, followed by Upper Austria and Salzburg (EUR 262 each). The southern federal states of Styria and Carinthia bring up the rear (EUR 252 each). According to the survey, women are most likely to buy clothing, while men buy electronic devices. 

The important role of Christmas markets
Will now has high hopes for the Christmas markets in particular. "They are the biggest opportunity to bring people back to the high streets," says the chairman of the trade association. The most popular, in order, are the Viennese Christmas markets in Schönbrunn, on Spittelberg and on Rathausplatz, followed in fourth place by the Salzburg Christmas market. 

"Reduction" of sales areas looms
If Christmas sales still fall short of expectations this year, there could be a "reduction" in retail space. On the political side, the trade association is calling for more difficult framework conditions for "unfair online competition from the Far East".