Bad results for the summer sales, "it's not a good vintage, it's a sanitary vintage"

REPORTAGE

The summer sales are over and traders are looking grim, because the results this year are very mixed.

According to a survey by the Ile de France Chamber of Commerce, more than half of Parisian brands are not at all satisfied with these sales.

In particular, the postponement of the first week of sales, which was postponed from 23 to 30 June.

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Rue du Commerce, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, Manon paces in her ready-to-wear boutique.

The sales are over and the sales are disastrous.

"On our figure for the month of July, we have a hole of 45% of turnover which was not made compared to last year", she laments at the microphone of Europe 1.

Fewer customers, fewer tourists.

The fault of the pandemic, according to this manager.

"Everyone went on vacation and since then, we have not done the figure at all. The conditions of the Covid have prevented us from having as many customers as expected in the store."

"It is not a good vintage, it is a sanitary vintage", reacts Francis Palombi, president of the Confederation of the Merchants of France (CDF).

According to a study carried out after the sales, he said, "49% of traders surveyed noted a drop between 10 and 25%".

Among them, Parisian traders are particularly affected, continues the president of the CDF.

In addition, "54% of these respondents said they had lost in the same proportions, or sometimes a little more, than in 2019". 

"The date shifts did not work in our favor"

On the other side of the rue du commerce, Olivier also looks grim.

For this director of a wellness brand, fixing the sales a week later than expected was fatal.

"The date shifts did not work in our favor since the sales started when there were already some departures on vacation," he explains.

"People seemed to be in a hurry to leave, that's kinda normal."

"For us independents who normally work without distinction, our economic model would have preferred the minister to place the start of sales on July 15," says Francis Palombi. "We have experienced this year something that is unacceptable, we have experienced, seven days before the sales, the Prime Day of Amazon, it is not correct!"

And for some customers, this year, it is necessary to do with small budgets.

So, of course, the sales go last.

"The shops, we walk past, we look ... But afterwards, we hold back because we say to ourselves that it is more important to spend time with family and to take advantage of what we currently have, such as restaurants, vacations, trips. Because we don't know how long it lasts, while the stores will be there all the time. "

Despite everything, 70% of Parisian traders remain optimistic.

They are still hoping for a recovery, but not before the start of the school year.