The Christmas business is not so bad for brick-and-mortar retail despite many closing days. The trade association and the economic research institute are assuming an additional Christmas-related turnover of 1.2 billion euros net. This corresponds to an increase of 100 million euros compared to the previous year, when the Christmas business was also severely restricted by the pandemic.
It is noticeable that the grocery trade is the big beneficiary of the corona lockdowns. He has doubled his Christmas sales compared to the pre-crisis year 2019 (see graphic). Wifo understands this to mean the additional sales in December compared to the monthly average from January to November. The fact that this jump from 316 to 607 million euros was not achieved solely through the sale of food, but also through toys, sports equipment and clothing, has been criticized time and again by many retailers who had to lock up.
Fashion, books, toys
“In the non-food sector, however, the additional sales in December are still 50 million euros below the pre-crisis level,” said Wifo economist Jürgen Bierbaumer. According to a trade association survey, the planned spending on Christmas gifts per capita in Austria this year at pre-crisis level is 463 euros after 420 euros in 2020. The most popular gifts are clothing, perfume, cosmetics, sweets, books and toys.
The online trade, fueled by the Christmas business, will grow by another 20 percent over the year this year. “With 9.6 billion euros, we will for the first time achieve an eCommerce share of more than 13 percent of total retail sales. Unfortunately, almost two thirds of this will flow abroad,” said trade spokesman Rainer Will.
He described the situation at many retailers as “extremely tense”, some retailers would no longer be able to pay bills in full and would have to reduce their staff. He criticizes the illogical lock-in policy: “Clientele policy plays a bigger role than the scientific basis.”
Will called for a “re-sharpening” of the corona aid and faster processing. The trade association welcomed the fact that the demos in downtown Vienna on the fourth weekend in Advent are only allowed from 6 p.m.
Source: Nachrichten
