Christmas sales showed improvement

The share of retailers who reported a decline in sales over the Christmas period has dropped below 50 percent for the first time in the last few years, according to a survey by the Institute of the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Enterprises (INEMY-ESEE).

The survey found that a total of 53 percent of trading enterprises said sales remained stable (20 percent) or increased (33 percent), while only 42 percent said their sales declined from Christmas 2016. This compares with a staggering 76 percent of companies reporting a sales drop in the festive season of 2016.

The majority of enterprises (some 60 percent) that did report a reduction in turnover this Christmas said it ranged between 10 and 30 percent, while another 10 percent reported a contraction of under 10 percent.

Almost half of retailers (46 percent) said, according to INEMY-ESEE, that the week just before Christmas was better than last year and 29 percent reported an increase in turnover for the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

All this was after a remarkably busy Black Friday on November 25, when discount sales led to a spike in turnover a few weeks before Christmas.