Greek retailers and FMCG suppliers expect sales to rise 0.7% in the second half of this year, compared to the corresponding period last year, while sales for the full-year are expected to be 0.8% higher.
The findings were revealed in a study by IELKA, Greece's Consumer Retail Research Institute, which surveyed 160 senior business executives in retail and FMCG in September.
The majority of respondents (43%) said that they believe business will improve in the second half of the year, compared to 21% that believe businesses will be worse off.
Factors Driving Improved Performance
Driving this increase in sales are four key factors, the survey found – an improvement in tourist traffic, a recently-announced tax relief package, a surge in e-commerce and home delivery services, and economic development.
On the negative side, respondents also noted an increase in product prices and measures that restrict access to supermarkets. Factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the epidemiological burden and continued mask use, are not anticipated to have a negative effect on sales.
State Of The Economy
In terms of the state of the economic climate, some 57% of respondents said that they believed the climate had improved, compared to 25% that felt it had deteriorated. This is on a par with the numbers reported in 2019, prior to the advent of the coronavirus pandemic.
Last year, at the height of the pandemic, as many as 90% of respondents said that they felt the economic situation had deteriorated, with just 3% seeing an improvement.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
