Artikel over 'winter sales' in Frankrijk, de zorgen van ondernemers over footfall tijdens de sales-periode door invloed Covid(oa impactTelewerk op footfall).
Formeel zijn er door de wet voorbepaalde perioden waarin de sales mogelijk zijn in Frankrijk. Met de insteek 'private sales' kunnen ondernemers daar dan weer van afwijken en buiten die vastgestelde perioden soldes/ koopjes aanbieden.
Fingers crossed voor 'de ondernemer' dat ondanks de lagere footfall(effect telewerk, met name voor bepaalde centra waarvan een aardig % van de traffic wordt gegenereerd door de werkenden) er toch flink wat omzet gehaald wordt tijdens de pre-sales(private sales dus) en de officiele sales welke gisteren van start zijn gegaan.
Coronavirus: Winter sales start this Wednesday, in a gloomy atmosphere
BY NEWS DESK ON JANUARY 12, 2022
Concern reigns among traders as the winter sales begin this Wednesday. Until February 8, consumers will be able to hunt for bargains. But, in the shops, the owners fear they will not make a good turnover because of the Covid-19 epidemic.
“Our objective would be to try to do as well” as in 2019, but “with the current number of contaminations, we are not sure of getting there”, comments Anna Sanchez, director of the Mango store. from Strasbourg. “The concern is strong, we see that the decision to put everyone to telework has already had a significant impact on the influx into shops”, also alerted Monday Florence Bonnet-Touré, the general secretary of the Federation. national clothing (FNH), which represents independent businesses in the sector.
“We have the impression that the sales are not really the priority,” worries for her part Joëlle Allègre, co-owner of the Shoes Art store in Bordeaux. “It will be double or quits,” abounds Clémence du Curia, sales assistant at Aigle in Strasbourg. “Customers tell me that during the sales, we are too tight, that there are too many people… It is true that it is not ideal. But I remain optimistic, I want to believe that it will work ”.
In this uncertain environment, traders could be tempted to cut prices significantly, to get the period off to a good start. “We are already seeing 50% private sales. The sales will start very, very strong because we do not know what will happen after, ”said Christian Baulme, president of the Ronde des Quartiers which represents 400 merchants in Bordeaux.
The period has in any case lost its uniqueness with the emergence of promotions and private sales. “We had already noticed in recent years that we worked better on certain days before the sales than during the sales”, explains Lilit, sales assistant at the Géox store in Strasbourg where many items are already showing -20% or -30% in the frame. private sales. “The sales were good 5 or 6 years ago, there was a rush on Wednesday, a lot of people on Saturday, there were six of us working in the store with temporary workers, whereas now there are only two, 5 full times, ”she continues. Currently, the clientele of the shop, rather elderly, “is afraid of the Covid” and in addition “learned to buy on the Internet, where there are promotions throughout the year”.
The context of inflation is also likely to weigh on sales, because when other expenditure items are more important, consumers reduce the budget allocated to fashion spending. Something to worry traders: 8 independent traders out of 10 say they are worried about the sustainability of their commercial activity in 2022, according to the FNH.