This year the winter sales started earlier than usual, on January 3, and opinions differ on their progress. After the first day of sales, Federmoda he says he is optimistic: “We have registered movement and a certain interest, even from foreign buyers”, comments Renato Borghi, president of the trade association.
"People go around, look, evaluate, think about it but in the meantime there is interest - confirms the president of Fismo-Confesercenti, Roberto Manzoni -. If the result were the same as last year's plus one, it would already be a success: it would reverse a trend of declining turnover that has now been going on for 4-5 years”.
Of a completely different opinion Codacons, which already in the first morning of sales estimates a drop in sales of 5% in large cities compared to 2014, with more evident drops in the suburbs.
In general, there are few queues in front of the brands, in which foreign tourists mostly buy. The Italians instead storm the o, which recorded an average increase in attendance of 15%, and the shops of the large low-cost clothing chains.
According to the consumers' association, however, the overall trend in sales will once again be negative, with sales suffering an average reduction of 8% per year and spending that will not exceed 184 euros per family. To date - underlines Codacons - only 35% of Italian families expect to make some purchases during the sales, while many shops have already launched disguised sales in recent days, by sending messages and emails to consumers with promotions customized and discounts applied directly to customers during the purchase phase in the establishments.
Pessimism also from Adusbef e Consumers Association, according to which only 36% of families will make purchases, while the average expenditure will settle at 179,4 euros per family, 5,6% less than last year. In this way the total turnover of the balances will settle at 1,61 billion euros.
