Pre-Christmas shopping to pause in 2023: Weak consumer confidence threatens Black Friday sales

class=”sc-29f61514-0 dXbCZE”>

Black Friday is coming soon. Swiss merchants have successfully Swissized the American tradition for several years. During the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, they made sales of 500 million francs on the last Friday of November. But last year sales fell by 20 million francs. Will discounted items sell more successfully again in 2023?

Almost the same turnover as last year

Preliminary figures from Swiss discount platform blackfridaydeals.ch suggest this may be true only to a limited extent. The high levels achieved during the pandemic will no longer be reached. The statement said, “According to our estimates, approximately 490 million francs will be sold in non-food retail in 2023, 115 million of which will be through the online channel.” Adjusted for inflation, this represents the same turnover as a year ago.

One of the main reasons why sales increased only slightly is weak consumer sentiment. Increasing rents, energy costs and health insurance premiums reduce the desire to buy. This is also reflected in the consumer sentiment index collected quarterly by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco). It fell from -27 points to -40 points in the last quarter, as Seco announced on Thursday.

Both the expected economic development and past assessments and the expected fiscal situation were much more pessimistic than in July. But it also shows that larger purchases are less affected by low mood.

Singles’ Day and Cyber ​​Monday are also stagnating

This development does not bode well for Singles’ Day, which will take place on November 11. It is considered the beginning of the pre-Christmas shopping rally. Unlike Black Friday, the singles shopping day has its origins in China. In this country it also takes place primarily online.

But it’s not just consumer sentiment that’s disrupting the situation this year: it also falls on a Saturday, of all days. «In online trading, Saturday is often the day with the lowest sales of the week. “Swiss people prefer to meet family and friends or shop in physical stores on Saturday,” says retail expert Julian Zrotz from blackfridaydeals.ch.

Therefore, a 10 percent decrease in sales is expected compared to the previous year. Additionally, as competition in online retail has diminished, retailer Steg Electronics, for example, was forced to file for bankruptcy this year. Singles’ Day reached online sales of 65 million francs in 2022.

The last shopping day of November is also stagnant. Sales of Cyber ​​Monday, which took place on the Monday after Black Friday, remained at 80 million francs, the same as last year. They have the same problems as Black Friday and Singles’ Day. Bargain hunters will also tend to focus on Black Friday. Therefore, as predicted by blackfridaydeals.ch, the discounts may be a little deeper this year.

Total sales of approximately 630 million francs are expected during the three shopping days. Numerous retailers will also be running new promotions that extend beyond Cyber ​​Monday. The week from November 27 to December 3 is considered Cyber ​​Week, similar to Monday.

Source :Blick