Sales kick off throughout Italy from this morning, January 5th. The official go has taken place but four regions (Basilicata, Campania, Sicily and Valle d'Aosta) left early on January 2 and in the others such as Lazio and Lombardy which lead the shopping rankings, the offers for customers are in truths already begun, in many cases, with selected invitations. Whatever happens, whether sales take off or remain more contained, it will be an important test. According to the estimates by the Confcommercio Research Office, each family will spend 346 euros on the purchase of clothing, footwear and accessories (3% more than last year), for a total value of 5,4 billion euros.
“Sales are important occasions for consumers – Renato Borghi, president of the Italian Fashion Federation-Confcommercio told Ansa – and fundamental for commercial operators to give continuity to those small, almost imperceptible signs of recovery. With this type of sale, revenues increase, but margins decrease”. However, the consumer associations disagree, which contest the trend towards a surge in consumption and report 'quiet' discounted sales almost everywhere. "The situation of households is such as not to allow for any surge" say Adusbef and Federconsumatori who forecast an average expenditure of 179 euros, underlining the 'tepid' start of the advance sales in the four regions after "Christmas consumption fell by 1,6, 184%". People go around the shops but don't buy, in summary the opinion of the Codacons according to which sales "will remain stable compared to last year, with an expenditure of around XNUMX euros per family".
On the other hand, Confesercenti is focusing on discounts, certain that they represent a "breath in the arm for a sector still in crisis and which in the last year alone has seen the closure of 10 fashion stores, 27 a day", compared to less than 5 new openings.
On the winter 2016 sales, consumer associations give some useful tips. Altroconsumo points out that “the guarantee is valid for two years from the purchase, even for the goods on sale. Therefore pay attention to the chemical paper receipts, they could deteriorate. The advice is to photocopy them”. Furthermore, the guarantee must be asserted within sixty days from the moment in which you discover the defect of the product you have purchased. A shopkeeper who has an agreement with a credit card is required to always accept it, even during sales periods. The prices displayed are binding on the seller: if a price or discount other than the one indicated is applied at the checkout, point this out.
