Sales start with stocks at their highest

The spring collections are partly delivered, but the autumn-winter stocks still clutter the shelves.

The sales, which begin this Wednesday for four weeks, are more crucial than ever.

After a year 2020 marked by closings (three months in total), stocks are indeed higher than usual at the start of the sales.

These have been postponed by two weeks to allow traders, especially the smallest among them, to sell their merchandise as much as possible at full margin.

The brands have increased their promotions in January, sometimes even before Christmas.

But nothing was enough to sell all the unsold products of the fall-winter season.

explains Yohann Petiot, the general delegate of the Alliance du Commerce, which represents the major clothing brands.

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With sales up 7% over one year, December was unable to make up for the delay accumulated in November, when stores were closed (- 85%).

In the last two months of 2020, turnover fell by 35%.

Over the year as a whole, the Trade Alliance estimates that sales fell 26% in clothing stores, and 23% when including online sales.

Collect cash

To make matters worse, the good momentum in December did not last at the start of the year.

Sales fell 40% over the first two weeks of January,

explains Yohann Petiot.

The curfew cuts the turnover of businesses by 20%.

Hence the insistent demand from retailers to be able to open automatically on Sundays in February, for the second part of the sales.

In January, the Ministry of Labor refused an automatic opening.

Result: only 60 departments out of 95 gave the green light to an opening on the first two Sundays of the sales, according to the Procos federation.

The brands' margins have already had a good start with the proliferation of promotions at the end of 2020 and early 2021. But the sales promise to be attractive for customers.

"The health context makes the French wait and see,"

explains Éric Mertz, president of the National Clothing Federation, which represents independent traders.

All the players in the sector hope that customers wait for the sales ...

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All businesses are not equal in the face of the pandemic.

The major brands were able to reduce their orders for fall-winter during the year, so that their stocks are not as high as they could have been.

This is not the case for independents, who buy two collections a year once and for all.

notes Eric Mertz.

The brands' margins have already had a good start with the proliferation of promotions at the end of 2020 and early 2021. But the sales promise to be attractive to customers.

profit,” explains Laurent Thoumine, in charge of retail at Accenture.

The sector, which expected a return to normal in the second half of the year, is now pushing back this horizon to the end of the year.