Inflation is above average and customers are cautious about spending. Retailers have less money in their tills, but not every industry is affected equally.
Retail sales in Germany continued to decline in September. Compared to the previous month, shops had 0.7 percent less money in their coffers, as the Federal Statistical Office reported. Adjusted for price increases, it was 0.8 percent less. Compared to the same month last year, it can be seen that dealers actually lost 4.3 percent of their sales after adjusting for prices.
This reflects customers’ reluctance to consume in view of above-average inflation. Grocery stores are currently less affected by this than other retailers. In the food retail sector, price-adjusted sales in September only fell by 0.5 percent year-on-year. Including the sharp price increases, this resulted in a nominal sales increase of 6.0 percent. Since the low point in December 2022, real business in the food trade has already increased by 4.7 percent.
Business with non-food items such as textiles, books and furniture was significantly weaker. Here, real sales were 3.7 percent behind August and 7.1 percent behind the same month last year. The situation was similar in the mail order business.
Source: Stern
