“Greece entered the inflation phase late. More specifically, prices started to rise significantly about four to five months later,” Professor of E-Business at the Department of Management Science and Technology at the Athens University of Economics and Business, Georgios Doukidis, said in an interview with Naftemporiki TV.
As he explained, “there are two reasons that justify the high supermarket prices. Firstly, Greek supermarkets keep traditionally high stocks, and secondly, many consumer products are imported.”
Doukidis stated that “if we compare 6,000 products, we will see that Greek products are much cheaper than Italy, France and England, but the two countries we have mainly focused on are Spain and Portugal.” He explained that “Greek products are about 10% cheaper compared to the equivalent ones in Spain, especially when we remove the VAT, while Portugal is cheaper than us in the last half, for the first time in five years.”
Finally, Doukidis argued that “eight out of ten consumers are chasing the offers,” adding that “the offers now have to become much smarter.”
“There is generally a reclassification,” he noted. He also added that “supermarkets have been working with a maximum profit margin for many months.”
