This year’s summer sale period highlights a recent worrying trend: the significant decrease in retail businesses’ turnover, which is a continuation of the negative course that has been observed throughout 2024.
According to the survey conducted by the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce on the retail market in the first month of the sales, the vast majority of respondents, 87.5%, recorded a decrease in their sales.
Impact on purchasing habits
The survey revealed that the decline in consumer disposable income has a direct impact on their shopping habits with summer sales following the trend.
Consumers are more cautious compared to the corresponding period of the previous year and prioritize basic needs such as food, fuel, housing, while limiting purchases to goods and services, which are now considered luxuries.
Discounts are insufficient motivation
Discounts, although particularly attractive, with percentages exceeding 50%, do not seem to persuade consumers to increase their spending.
The continuous increase in the cost of living, with inflation and skyrocketing energy prices as the main factors, has led to a significant reduction in their disposable income, forcing them to drastically limit their purchases.
Consumers are proving to be cautious, concerned about the future economic outlook and making purchases only when absolutely necessary.
Businesses, which are affected by the energy crisis and have to cope with the digital transition, need immediate support from the government, which must plan and implement long-term policies that will strengthen the competitiveness of the Greek economy and create a favorable environment for entrepreneurship.
