Winter sales 2020 were disappointing in Paris because of social movements, with a lower result than last year, already affected by the demonstrations of yellow vests, according to a panel of traders polled by the Chamber of Commerce and of industry (CCI).
According to a survey of 300 traders from January 24 to 29, 2020, “supplemented by a hundred face-to-face interviews on rue de Rennes”, an artery in the 6th arrondissement with numerous shops, Parisian traders were “penalized by social movements “, specifies the CCI in a press release.
“For 80% of them, the poor result of this winter can be explained by the demonstrations and social movements which punctuated the sales period, in particular the transport strike which strongly disrupted the capital,” details the CCI.
In terms of turnover, more than half (56%) of the merchants interviewed believe that the excess activity compared to a month of ordinary activity was “at best, only 10%”.
Only Black Friday is satisfactory
And for seven out of ten traders, the result of the 2020 winter sales was “less good” than that of the previous year, “yet already very shaken by the demonstrations of yellow vests every Saturday,” according to the Chamber of Commerce.
Already, the fall-winter season had already been judged “very poor”, for the same reasons: 75% of traders have seen a drop in turnover, and 92% believe that the social movements that started on December 5 had a major impact on their activity this month. More affected, the self-employed are 57% to declare having suffered a drop in their turnover of more than 30%, compared to 34% for brands.
In contrast, six in ten (62%) merchants rated the Black Friday business result “satisfactory” and about eight in ten (78%) are satisfied with the shortening of sales, which lasted four weeks (January 8 to February 4) ) versus six previously.
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