The French are gradually regaining their habits. Large shopping centers are welcoming more and more customers, and are approaching normal traffic. Consumption seems to be starting again, but it must not stop there, because the economic rebound depends on it.
It was THE big question after the confinement: were the French going to find their way to the shops? The answer is yes.
Good economic news is rare, it should be taken advantage of. Yes, the French come back to the stores. In the "malls", the big shopping centers, the attendance went up to 80% of normal.
Another indicator provided by the company CDLK, which peels the bank card payments of 150,000 consumers, shows the progress made: on an index 100 of expenses, we had fallen to 47 on March 24, in full containment, and we went back to 87 end of May. So an almost normal level.
The sales that are growing the most are toys. And yes, the market caught up to 44% of its losses in three weeks. But this is also the case for IT and household appliances, big or small. Sales of kitchen robots, for example, jumped 30% in April, as did dear Matthew, like beard trimmers.
Okay, but that's normal, the stores were closed. Will this rebound last?
Returning to 80% of the pre-crisis level is excellent news. Staying at this level would be a disaster. What will make the difference? Fear of losing a job is key: when it increases, people save more money. It is clearly a risk today.
Another question: the rebound is much less evident in textiles. We don't see so many catch-up purchases in this area except for children. The basic question is whether the Covid experience has changed behavior and whether consumers have become more frugal or not. The rebound in the economy depends on it.