However, this time various economic difficulties, and primarily high energy prices, have taken their toll – the number of people stocking up on "sales" and "soldes" is now much smaller than a year earlier. Consequently, profits from sales are not reaching desired levels. "Новые Известия" tried to find out what tricks traders are forced to resort to in order to attract customers.
On Brussels' Avenue Louise, where shopping arcades are packed with boutiques of famous brands, sports competitions recently took place. Referee whistles, commentary from large speakers, rousing music, television vans with parabolic antennas... Pushing through a dense wall of fans, the "НИ" correspondent in Brussels saw the start of a strange race: long-legged girls, dressed in whatever, but all in high-heeled shoes. The start – and the beauties rushed forward along the pavement to the squeals of the crowd. About two hundred contestants took part in the 100-meter race on heels for the main prize: a shopping check worth 10,000 euros.
The unusual competition, organized by the Association of Merchants of the Upper Town, was one of the many lures for customers to the summer sales in Brussels. This year, the traditional summer "soldes" were unusually sluggish, becoming a topic of investigation in the economic sections of newspapers. Authors blame the purchasing apathy on either rainy weather or inflation. No, there are certainly many shoppers on the commercial streets of Brussels and in the Grand Magasins on the boulevards of Paris, but economists love precision. The first day of trading at reduced prices disappointed sellers. Sales volume was about five percent lower than on the same day last year. The results of the first week showed that this was not just an unfortunate accident.
Meanwhile, it is the first week of sales that is usually the most profitable: people have not yet left for vacations, but they are already supposed to be stocking up on summer items for the whole family in pleasant anticipation of rest. In these days, as a rule, 70% of the goods of the outgoing season are sold – and this is turnover that can give a good online store of clothing or toys. The current decline is the largest in the last five years, notes the Brussels representative of the Unizo store chain.
In most departments of France, sales began on June 25, not July 1 as in Belgium, and will last until the end of August. But even there, the picture does not please sellers. "We still have large stocks," laments Lucien Odier, president of the federation of clothing traders of "major brands." "Customers rarely complain yet that they cannot find their size or desired color, although traditionally "gaps" in supply appear already a few days into the "soldes."
To attract customers, traders began offering discounts of 50% and even 70% from the first days of sales. Usually, this happens at the end to clear shelves of leftover merchandise. Even the famous Parisian stores Printemps and Galeries Lafayette, which traditionally improve their business thanks to the summer influx of tourists who sweep everything away like locusts, are noting a depressing stability of sales these days.
Observers analyze a whole range of possible reasons for the sluggishness of the current sales and agree that it is an unfavorable combination of several circumstances. But few fail to highlight the main one: the overall rise in prices associated with the unprecedented increase in oil prices. The buyer prefers to spend money on gasoline, heating and electricity, leisure, food, rather than on clothing and footwear. He thinks about essential things, not about fashion. For example, last year, the monthly advance payment for gas and electricity in the Brussels apartment of the "НИ" correspondent was 99 euros, and this year it is 127, and it is still unknown what the bill will be at the end of the year. And the last visit to the gas station cost 80 euros.
In addition to cyclical reasons, there are also those related to progress. Stores bound by traditional sales rules suffer from competition from online traders. Online shops regularly run promotions with much larger discounts throughout the year, not only during the designated summer and winter periods.
For the first time, seasonal sales were introduced at the dawn of the 20th century in Germany by imperial decree. The state took advantage of the new phenomenon of mass fashion to show its social role and ease tension in society. Let the poor, they thought, get shod and clothed twice a year at the expense of the wealthy who chase fashion. History, however, decreed that Germany became one of the first countries where strict regulation of seasonal sales ("Schlussverkauf") was abolished. By decision of the Bundestag, since 2004, traders have been given the right to decide for themselves when to discount aging goods. The explanation is simple: today, collections change much more often than 100 years ago. About half of sales turnover now consists of electronics, which technological progress devalues faster than fashion does clothing.
The Dutch followed the example of the Germans. At any time, coming to Amsterdam or Delft, you can see signs saying "Opruimen" and corresponding prices. Regulation of sales periods, along with Belgium and Luxembourg, remains in France and Italy.
However, the French Senate is already considering a reform project that would allow traders to choose any two weeks of the year for clearing their shelves and warehouses in addition to the nationwide sales periods. The periods themselves, which in France last six weeks, would be reduced to five.
Statistics indicate a change in purchasing habits. In Belgium, even among the "poor," only just over a third of respondents postpone major purchases until sales. Among the more affluent, less than a quarter. Simply, most Europeans buy clothing and footwear when they need to.