Empty shops. Here comes the collapse caused by the fear of the coronavirus. GFK certified it, one of the largest market research institutes in the world.
Sales, strongly negative for all sectors, excluding food and pharmaceuticals, recorded inconsumer electronics a hefty -8,4 percent in the last week compared to the average of the previous four weeks. And this above all in traditional shops, even if online shops are also suffering, with -6,1 percent.
“Not all Italian regions – underlines GFK – have suffered the coronavirus effect on consumption in the same way: the data show a particularly negative trend in Lombardy (-10%) and in the North East (-12,4%), that is to say in the territories where the highest number of cases have been recorded and which were the first to introduce restrictions to contain the opportunities for contagion ".
Tumble dryers, which had recorded brilliant sales results for years, suffered a drop of more than 31 percent, as did air conditioners (but the seasonal figure greatly affects) and the whole range of consumer electronics and telephony is negative .
However, what most worries operators in the industry and trade sector is that the freeze on sales could continue with these disastrous percentages in the near future as well.
Will there be recovery? Pay attention to this data: one fifth of the annual sales of hi-tech products are concentrated – as GFK recently communicated – in the Golden Quarter, the eight weeks of the end of the year in which Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas and winter sales follow one another. If the sales of the coming months continue to fall with a trend that is extending to the whole territory, the Golden Quarter will only be able to absorb a small percentage of lost sales months of the entire hi-tech sector: large and small household appliances, consumer electronics, telephony, information technology and, let's not forget, consumables and software.
Last year the Golden Quarter had achieved an increase in purchases of all tech segments with sensational surges, such as +114% in the week of Black Friday compared to the average week. A negative trend is already beginning to be seen in the North-West regions: even heavier sales during the promotional period and the non-reopening of many small traditional shops.
