Translated by
Nicola Mira
Revealed
January 10, 2025
In France, 2024 ended on a adverse word for unbiased style retailers. Their gross sales fell by 4.7% in December in comparison with the earlier yr, in keeping with the Fédération nationale de l’habillement (FNH), the nation’s attire retailers’ affiliation. The downturn was worse than the consequence recorded in November, when gross sales have been down 1.6%. September and October have been optimistic for the sector, however FNH underlined there have been no main promotions in these months. The affiliation is campaigning for a evaluation of the end-of-season gross sales calendar, and for regulating low cost exercise all year long.
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FNH discovered that retailers that carried out promotions in December did enhance their outcomes, rising on common by 6%. A determine to be borne in thoughts, in keeping with FNH, as a result of “the only way to survive for some retailers is to carry out promotional operations.” November was a fragile month, “because customers preferred to wait until Black Friday [right at the end of the month] to shop,” then took the foot off the fuel in December, ready for the January gross sales.
All sectors posted adverse ends in December, with womenswear shops recording the worst gross sales decline (down 8%), adopted by menswear shops (down 7%), whereas co-ed retailers fared comparatively higher, dropping just one%. “The smallest businesses were those that experienced the most significant slump,” mentioned FNH.
There have been a number of localised variations within the outcomes. Buying and selling was slightly sturdy in December within the Occitane (up 10%) and Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur (up 4%) areas, whereas the scenario was regarding in Centre-Val de Loire (down 6%), Brittany (down 7%), and Normandy (down 14%).
“Given the tough economic situation, it is essential to rethink the timing of end-of-season sales and promotions. Moving sales dates back to the end of the season would enable retailers to sell off their inventory at full price and preserve their margins. Moreover, regulating promotions would stave off the price war that is weakening the entire sector,” mentioned Pierre Talamon, president of FNH.
In the meantime, FNH joined the attraction filed final December in opposition to the introduction of limited-traffic pedestrian zones (ZTL) within the coronary heart of Paris.
