It’s true that the Christmas business was over three months ago, but the balance sheet is only now available. This is anything but pleasant. Because of the pandemic, there was a minus everywhere compared to 2020. In the Chamber of Commerce, this is also attributed to online trading.
The sales representatives were hoping for four million gifts under Tyrol’s Christmas trees in advance, as reported by the “Krone”. It was calculated with 580,000 willing buyers who would spend an average of 340 euros. The experts had adjusted to a minus of 20 percent compared to 2019. A small consolation: it wasn’t that much after all. According to the figures sent to the Chamber of Commerce by KMU Forschung Austria, there was ultimately a minus of 16 percent. It must be taken into account that these are the figures for the whole of Austria, which, according to WK division manager Simon Franzoi, “also apply relatively to Tyrol should be a good fit”. However, there is no absolute number of sales of Christmas presents. Only grocers recorded an increase. What is available, however, is an overview of the percentage changes in the individual areas. There was only a real increase in food retail, which amounted to one percent compared to 2020. The largest decline in sales was recorded in the book and stationery trade with 13 percent. Just behind them are toys with a minus of twelve percent. This is followed by electrical appliances, computers and photography with a minus ten percent. Sales of furniture, cosmetics, watches and jewelery each fell by seven percent. It was minus five percent for clothing, for shoes and leather goods “only” two percent. For the chairman, the balance is “not surprising”. Dieter Unterberger is not surprised by this result. This is the result of the mixture of lockdown, lack of tourism and migration to online trade. “If you want to keep stationary retailers alive, you have to think about how you can declare war on Amazon and Co., concludes the chairman . A construction site that the trade has been busy with for a long time.
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