- The summer sales start on Wednesday July 15 and will close on August 11. These dates, later than usual, were set to support traders after the difficult period of confinement.
- Now drowned in promotions, private sales and other events, the sales are losing their interest in the eyes of consumers.
- To this competition is added the ecological interest of consumers who encourage more moderate consumption and develop the second-hand market.
For a long time, the sales have been a long-awaited bi-annual event. Consumers were fluttering about finding the best discounts and getting good deals. But times change and so do practices. If it was the crisis linked to the coronavirus and the confinement that led to the postponement of the sales to July 15, to support independent businesses, the legitimacy of the event has been called into question for several years. According to a Yougov * study, only 34% this summer are eagerly awaiting the sales. Conversely, 16% of French people believe that these periods should simply be eliminated. 20 Minutes asked its readers and experts if the sales still have a future.
"The system has been perverted"
"Why does it make noise?" I have the impression that it's always sales. Ali's remark reflects the confusion on the minds of many of our readers. Between regular promotions, private sales and events such as Black Friday or French Days … Difficult to navigate. Francis Palombi, President of the Confederation of French Businesses understands these questions: “Large brands and e-commerce platforms are promoting promotions all year round now. They make huge discounts at the slightest opportunity. Hence the impression of permanent sales.
However, the balances are framed legally, they are spread over four weeks (since the Pact law) and these are the only periods during which the sale at a loss is authorized. So how is it possible to confuse “simple” promotions with sales? Francis Palombi explains: “Large groups have relocated and are producing products, often of poor quality, at very low costs, which they sell ten times more expensive here. With such margins, even at -70%, they earn money, where independent trade can hardly go further than -40%. The system has been perverted. "
Loss of consumer confidence
Francis Palombi reminds that at the origin, the sales exist to sell the unsold goods of a season: "These practices sow doubt in the mind of the consumer who, on the one hand, no longer knows the real value of what 'he buys, and on the other, loses interest in sales. "Gaëtan, one of our readers testifies to this confusion:" When I want a product, I no longer wait for sales. I do not know what reduction I will find. As soon as I see a fair price somewhere, I buy. For Régine Vanheems, associate professor and specialist in distribution, "too much promotion kills promotion". She develops: “Consumers have lost the reference price, and therefore the confidence. "
The reference price is difficult to know. And this causes an impression of deception that some consumers feel and keep them away from sales. Jacques Creyssel, president of the Federation of Commerce and Distribution, admits the difficulty in setting the reference price: "Is this the initial price? The price fixed a month before the sales? It is a rather vague regulation. Our reader Solène gives the example: “We buy a product on promotion one day. And we find it even cheaper a week later but with a lower discount. One has the impression of being tricked. Francis Palombi even confides that the DGCCRF, in charge of controls, admits that it is not always able to check the reference prices…
Should the sales be saved at all costs?
If, despite the late dates of this summer, 62% of French people say that they must consume during sales to "revive the economy" - Yougov study -, 52% of respondents say they have nothing to buy and 31% want to reduce their consumption. The context does not help: with the confinement, the sale date has been pushed back to mid-summer, when many French people are already on vacation and some may be reluctant to go to stores in this uncertain sanitary period.
Others like our reader Mayana admit to having already done their shopping: “With the Internet, I do not see why I would be jostled in stores. And promotions are just as attractive. "The success of online shopping undermines the interest of the sales, and this will not change, according to Jacques Creyssel:" E-commerce is based on promotion and on quasi-permanent reductions. Consumers have understood this. Some have even created a category called smartshoppers , as Régine Vanheems explains: "It has become a kind of game. Like a treasure hunt, where the individual spends a lot of time looking for the best price, the best promotion. It gives him an image of "intelligent consumer". "
Faced with this, Francis Palombi is worried about small traders, and asks for stricter regulations in order to find what makes the usefulness of the sales, minimize losses: “We could adapt the sales dates according to the departments. Because you don't buy summer shoes in Juan-les-pins at the same time as in the North. And that would allow border departments to better fight foreign competition. "The president of the French merchants' confederation even suggests taking the example of Germany, where it is possible to organize sales at any time, on a few products, and with justification:" For example, if I buy 10 sweaters and that 3 months after I haven't sold one, I can sell it at a loss. "
But Jacques Creyssel is not convinced by these arguments. According to him, with globalized competition, it is impossible to fight against the Internet, he takes the example of Amazon during the confinement, which could continue to deliver in France, even after having closed its warehouses: '' with a good VPN (software that allows you to hide your location), you can buy worldwide. "
New enemies
Unfortunately for sales, competition is not limited to online promotions from major platforms. A new form of commerce is emerging and has met with great success in recent years: The second hand. Dominique Roux, professor of marketing at the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, notes a new revival since the confinement: “The marketplaces between individuals, of the type of Facebook or Vinted have exploded in recent weeks. With the second-hand market, individuals find the possibility of finding quality products at prices often lower than the discounts found in sales, "to the point of becoming micro-enterprises themselves".
The second hand has the added advantage of being much “greener”. Many readers have reminded us of this. The fashion sector, which "accounts for most of the sales," according to Jacques Creyssel, is the third most polluting sector in the world. What several NGOs like Greenpeace have reminded several times, calling for the abolition of this type of promotions.
* Study carried out from 23 to 24 June 2020 with 1,054 people representative of the French population.
Society
Aix-en-Provence: An app puts fashion and local shopping at a click
Economy
Deconfinement: Attendance at shopping centers continues to increase
- Trade
- Economy
- Deconfinement
- Sales
- Covid 19
- Business
- Confinement