RETAIL MARKET

Black Friday beats expectations

Black Friday beats expectations

This year’s Black Friday promotional event, which stretched from November 25 to 27, outperformed market expectations, with more visitors to shopping centers and a 10-12% increase in turnover from last year based on conservative estimates.

In some cases, according to large chains of technology products and household appliances, the increase was over 20%. In fact, a similar feeling prevailed both among the representatives of large retail chains and among the representatives of small and medium-sized traders.

The absence of restrictive measures for the coronavirus, the operation of commercial stores also on Sunday, and the fact that many consumers took advantage of Black Friday (or rather Black Week) to shop for Christmas, fearing higher prices due to inflation in the following period, seem to have played a key role in the significantly increased shopping activity.

Retail trade insiders told Kathimerini that turnover came close to 200 million euros – i.e. much higher than the estimate made by the of Hellenic Retail Business Association (SELPE) concerning turnover of €120 million. Of course, this estimate referred to the purchases that would be made basically only on Friday, November 25. Activity at stores appears to have been much higher on Saturday and Sunday, with turnover on Sunday in particular estimated to be around 50% higher than on the first Sunday of last year’s winter sales – while this is not a like-for-like comparison, it is in fact the single most similar event, as the traders themselves point out.

Although the main volume of visitors was observed in the central shopping streets of Athens (such as Ermou Street) and the other major cities around the country, at malls and open shopping parks and discount villages, there was also recorded significant activity in some regional markets, such as Halandri, Glyfada and Piraeus.

“The Black Friday of November 2022 is characterized by very high shopper numbers at central malls, department stores and commercial spots. However, in regional markets the momentum was limited compared to expectations and in line with a typical Friday,” Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (ESEE) President Giorgos Karanikas told Kathimerini.

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