Small traders expressed their disappointment on Saturday on this first day of sales. “This first day is particularly disappointing”, comments Daniel Cauwel, president of SDI, the inter-professional employers’ federation.
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Traders hoped that customers would be attracted by the larger price reductions than in previous years given the size of stocks. But for SDI, the limitations imposed on customers in the fight against Covid have encouraged them to stay at home.
“With a rare exception in certain neighborhoods or shopping centers, the merchant members of the federation report a particularly gloomy and disappointing day, very far from the crowds on which they were counting”.
For the employers’ organization, regardless of the health crisis, sales are less and less successful due to promotions granted from June, the success of electronic commerce and cross-border competition with France, the Netherlands and the ‘Germany.
For Comeos, the federation of trade and services, this beginning of sales is nothing less than “dramatic”, with turnover reduced by half compared to last year.
According to the organization, very few customers entered the stores on Saturday morning. They were however a little more numerous in the afternoon.
The Neutral Union of Independents (SNI) makes the same observation. According to data put forward by the organization, turnover this year is half as high as at the start of last year’s sales.
“Spring was already particularly bad because of the coronavirus. Now that the rules have been tightened so that purchases are only allowed for a maximum of 30 minutes and must be done on their own, this is slowing down purchases. If we want to prevent that one in five stores does not arrive at the end of the year, the rules must be changed quickly, ”reacts its president, Christine Mattheeuws. “The sales are done with your partner, with your children or with your friends, so let’s make the analogy with the hotel and catering industry to allow us to go shopping with our bubble”.
Due to the health crisis, the official start of the sales, traditionally given on July 1, has been postponed this year to August 1.
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