The German retail sector is expected to take in an additional €1.7 billion in sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, according to trade analysts.
The Handelsverband Deutschland (German trade association, aka HDE) has released its forecast for the coming weekend based on a survey of last year’s sales, and it says that consumers are likely to increase their spending by even more this year.
The HDE online survey consulted 1,000 consumers about their buying habits during the Black Friday weekend in 2016.
Both sales days were very popular among German consumers, the survey found. Some 16% of them availed of Black Friday markdowns, resulting in per-capita spending of over €170 for that day alone. Cyber Monday saw 13% of consumers seizing offers, with per-capita spending of €120 on that day alone.
'Cyber Weeks'
'Every year, Black Friday and Cyber Monday attract customers with special offers,' according to the HDE. 'The markdowns are often not limited to the two days. Some trading companies host entire cyber weeks.'
The trademarked use of the phrase ‘Black Friday’ has caused legal challenges in the country over the past year. At the beginning of November, reports emerged of online retail giant Amazon facing legal action in Germany for its use of the trademarked phrase ‘Black Friday’.
On a larger scale, the HDE also recently released optimistic figures for the forthcoming Christmas sales in Germany. It said that the German retail sector is set to see a sales increase of 3% in November and December, compared to the same two months last year. It predicts the sales increase to reach €94.5 billion, due to good economic conditions in the German market.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Kevin Duggan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
