Physical retail bouncing back
Uncertainty in the market led to one in three retailers running promotions or discounts even over the festive period, but more than one in four businesses had higher sales this holiday season, compared with the same period in 2021, according to a study by the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (ESEE), which was released on Friday, regarding the activity of commercial stores during the 2022-2023 festive period.
As noted by ESEE, the high activity in commercial stores became even more intense during the festive season, and is also due to the easing of protective measures against the pandemic, as well as the prolonged mild weather conditions. These developments allowed the comeback the physical store, as it has been reflected in recent months.
However, the functioning of the market has not yet been restored to pre-pandemic levels, while consumer behaviors that were inflated during the health crisis, such as online shopping, persist to some extent even today.
One should add to the above the impact of the energy crisis and price hikes and the increased uncertainty the inflation has brought to consumers and businesses.
