Are customers tired of sales?

“Sale periods generate higher sales than non-sale periods,” explains Sophie Brenot, president of the Federation of Leather Goods Retailers.

But year after year it loses interest in the eyes of buyers.

However, the search for bargains is all the more important this year as the subject of purchasing power has become the primary concern of the French, in a context of inflation not seen for more than 30 years.

"We could have wondered if there was going to be a windfall effect with a quest for low prices, but that didn't happen," notes the director of the economic observatory of the Institut Français de la Mode ( IFM), Gildas Minvielle.

"There were no good surprises", he continues, "when you have a market that is not dynamic, sales are no exception".

Sales down 4.5% compared to 2021

The IFM questioned professionals on the first fifteen days of the sales period, which generally give the "the", and the results are an average drop in sales of 4.5% compared to the previous year.

The Trade Alliance, which brings together professionals from department stores, clothing and footwear and which had alerted in early July to the "very bad start" of the sales, for its part noted a "slight improvement" in sales during the third week of sales.

Comparing for its part to the pre-Covid period, in 2019, its general manager Yohann Petiot evokes sales down 13%.

"The situation has improved a little but remains largely disappointing," he says, with a sharp drop in footfall in stores.

The “not at all ecological” sales model

If the poor performances of the period find their explanation in part in "the difficulties of purchasing power" for some French people, with a sector "very fragile and very affected by changes in the economic environment" according to Gildas Minvielle, some believe that sales are now largely obsolete.

In June, the treasurer of the National Federation of Clothing (FNH) Stéphane Rodier called for a "global reflection" to bring out "viable solutions that do not make us consume for the sake of consuming", judging the sales model "not all ecological”.

A point of view that not everyone shares.

The sales "are no longer what they used to be but have the merit of existing and are regulated, I fear that if we do not withdraw them, it could encourage nonsense...", believes Sophie Brenot, from the Federation of Leather Goods Retailers.

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  • Economy

  • Sales

  • Consumption

  • Garment

  • Stores

  • purchasing power

  • Ecology