The sales start this Tuesday, January 3, but the situation is not good for businesses. According to a survey by the Union des Classes Moyennes (UCM), more than 3 out of 4 traders fear having to stop their activity. A study that covers more than 500 traders. And the result surprised the UCM itself a lot. How to explain this? According to Pierre-Frédéric Nyst, president of the Union des Classes Moyennes, this is explained by “the three shocks”he said. “We still have the repercussions of the Covid shock, we have the energy shock and then also appears the shock of the indexation of wages, wage costs in general. That’s what weighs down the morale of traders a little. are not in a good situation to actually start this period of sales”explains the president of the UCM.
The sales period is fundamental for traders since they must liquidate their stock. And this year, there are particularly many. “You need cash, because there is a whole series of bills to pay of course. So it’s really the winter of all dangers if I can say so”he continues.
According to him, the only hope, in the immediate future, is to make good winter sales. Does this mean that markdowns will be significant from the start? For Pierre-Frédéric Nyst, yes. “From the moment you have a lot of inventory and you need to make cash, I think you have to actually attract customers to the city centers and to our traders, to our small traders”indicates the president of the UCM.
The latter reminds us that it is also very important to go to small shops, to go and get advice. “It’s really fundamental and so of course there will have to be and there will be, according to the merchants we surveyed, big discounts from the start. I think that’s a very important element. We hope that the weather will be there too. It’s always a bit complicated because there, we can’t make predictions at this level. But we really have to try to find – and I know that the period is difficult – a bit of fun shopping. And your merchants are waiting for you tomorrow morning”he concludes.
