The professional federation Alliance du commerce said on Tuesday that it had observed a “very bad start to the 2022 summer sales”, with sales in stores down 19% over the first eleven days, from June 22 to July 2, compared to the start. of the 2019 period.

L'Alliance du commerce, which brings together professionals from department stores, clothing and footwear, produces with Retail Int a panel of around forty brands representative of the clothing market.

She compared in-store sales for the first eleven days of sales with the start of the 2019 sales, the last financial year not disrupted by the Covid-19 epidemic.

Online sales, although up sharply since 2019, do not compensate for this decline.

"Household Inflation Concerns"

The Alliance du Commerce and Retail Int also noted that in-store traffic fell by 28%, explained "by the return of household concerns linked to inflation and by the unfavorable arbitration of consumers vis-à-vis of the clothing sector on the eve of the summer holidays".

In the first half of 2022, the brands in the panel “recorded a drop in their cumulative activity in stores at constant scope and on the Internet of 5% compared to 2019”.

Men's and children's textiles “mainly drove the clothing market”, unlike women's textiles and footwear.

Growth in online sales

Online sales increased by 68% compared to the 2019 period, but are down compared to 2021 (-27%), during the period when shops are closed.

The previous week, the Procos specialist trade federation had also noted a decline in commercial activity in the first half compared to before Covid-19, of the order of -7% in stores.

Counting the web sales of the brands in the Procos panel, this variation remains negative, at -5.4%.

Textiles/clothing, footwear, toys-culture-gifts or beauty-health are the most penalized categories, while specialized food and household equipment, on the other hand, are doing better than before Covid-19 on the period January-May 2022, according to this federation.

Economy

Trade: Top start this Wednesday for the summer sales

Economy

Purchasing power: With inflation, sales again unavoidable?

  • Economy

  • Sales

  • Inflation

  • Consumption